Giant Pandas Are Coming Back to Washington, D.C.

For the past six months, the giant panda habitat at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) has sat empty, a sign outside of its entrance informing visitors that the beloved black-and-white bears who once occupied the enclosure are now living in China.

By the end of 2024, however, the species is set to make its triumphant return to Washington, D.C., bringing a yearlong panda drought in the nation’s capital to a close.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), which owns the vast majority of pandas held in captivity, has agreed to loan a pair of pandas to the Zoo for ten years in exchange for an annual fee of $1 million. The funds will support animal research and conservation efforts in China. Two-year-old male Bao Li (the son of Bao Bao, a female panda born at NZCBI in 2013) and 2-year-old female Qing Bao will arrive in Washington later this year.