This is not a drill: Two giant pandas are on their way to the National Zoo, CNN reports. Bao Li and Qing Bao are set to board the Panda Express within the next few hours, flying from China to their new home in DC. The three-year-old bears departed a research base in Dujiangyan on Monday night.
It’s been nearly five months since the Zoo announced the return of giant pandas. Despite the “Pandas Are Coming” merch, there was still a question of when exactly that would be. The new bears will arrive almost a year after Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji departed for China. Their exit marked the end of “panda diplomacy” in Washington and left three bear-shaped holes in our hearts.
Bao Li and Qing Bao are flying in style on a FedEx Boeing 777, the same type of roomy freighter plane that shuttled their predecessors last year. The plane is stocked with “corn buns, bamboo shoots, carrots, water, and medicine,” according to a statement from the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
One of our newest residents already has ties to the city. Bao Li’s mother Bao Bao was born at the National Zoo in 2013, and his grandparents are Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. One could say Bao Li is a panda nepo baby of sorts. His female counterpart Quing Bao has no known connections to Washington.
It might be a moment before you get to greet DC’s newest VIPs (that’s Very Important Pandas). In May, the Zoo told the Washington Post that the incoming pandas will be quarantined in their habitat for at least 30 days to mitigate the chances of introducing diseases or parasites to other animals. The bears also won’t make their public debut until zookeepers feel they’ve fully adjusted to their new living quarters and are ready to welcome what will surely be a crush of visitors.
