US zoo prepares to bid bittersweet farewell to 3 pandas

With all the giant pandas at a Washington zoo scheduled to leave for China by the end of the year, zookeepers and visitors have found this announcement "bittersweet".

On Monday, the Smithsonian's National Zoo announced the impending departure of giant panda pair Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, and their 3-year-old son Xiao Qi Ji.

Following the announcement, the zoo threw a birthday party for Xiao Qi Ji, or "Little Miracle", giving him a multitiered frozen cake made with apple and pineapple juices.

As Xiao Qi Ji ambled over to his fruitsicle, a large crowd that had been gathered since early morning sang Happy Birthday.

Brandie Smith, director of the zoo and its conservation biology institute, said the birth of Xiao Qi Ji was really a miracle, given that he was born during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think this whole giant panda program has been one miracle after the other: the birth of this incredible animal, the success of the collaboration, and the fact that we're saving an endangered species one giant panda at a time," Smith told China Daily.

The last time the zoo had no giant panda was in late 1999 for about a year after the death of Hsing Hsing, part of the zoo's first giant panda pair from China following then-US president Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972.

In 2000, China and the United States signed a Giant Panda Cooperative Research and Breeding Agreement for the second pair of giant pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, to stay at the zoo for a decade.

The loan pact was renewed for two five-year extensions until December 2020. It was then extended for another three years until December this year.

"We're already having some conversations about what the future of the panda program is going to look like. But I don't have any answers," Smith said.

In an interview last August, Smith said the zoo expected the conversations and negotiations with Chinese partners to lead to the same agreement as previously inked.

"I am always optimistic. We very much hope even if we don't have pandas here, we can continue to tell the story of the animals, of the conservation success," she said on Monday. "And my dream is that we will have pandas here in the future."

Over 2 million people visit the zoo every year, and seeing giant pandas at the zoo tops their wish list, Smith said.

Bryan Amaral, a senior curator at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, said giant pandas have become synonymous with the zoo. He said Xiao Qi Ji is just bubbly and a lot of fun, always active and "always keeps us on our toes".

"We'll miss them terribly, and I'm sure the community will, but they're going to a great place," Amaral said. "And you know, like I said, it's bittersweet. We've been successful, which is why unfortunately we have to say goodbye."