We're Already Sad: DC Getting Ready to Bid Farewell to Bao Bao
Bao Bao will leave for China Feb. 21
By Kristin Wright ••
Giant panda Bao Bao will leave the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and move to her new home in China next week.
It seems like only yesterday we were watching her take a bottle, squawk adorably through a veterinary exam and tumble — adorably — down rocks.
But now Bao Bao, the Smithsonian's National Zoo's 3-year-old giant panda, is headed back to China. Though we knew the return was coming, many in the D.C. region just aren't ready.
"I'm so sad!" young Sammy Cronin, clutching his own stuffed panda, said outside the Giant Panda exhibit at the Zoo's Asian Trail.
"Come back to Washington, D.C.," echoed Sammy's brother, Will.
Bao Bao will return to China via a special 16-hour FedEx flight on Tuesday. She'll be accompanied by a zookeeper on the flight, who will stay in China for a while to make sure she acclimates.
"She's a spitfire," said Leslie Johnson, who was visiting the zoo Wednesday. "And funny. And just like her dad."
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Granted, there were many more serious things to worry about during the 2013 government shutdown -- but the public outcry over the panda cam's going dark was not exactly small. By the time the cam went live again, Bao Bao weighed almost five pounds and her eyes had begun to open.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Look, legs are hard. They are tricky and confusing and you have to use all of them together. Bao Bao had to put in some serious effort to meet this milestone in November 2013.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
OK, we get it: This was not exactly a milestone to stop the presses. But just look at this ridiculous video. Is your brain exploding from cuteness yet?
Smithsonian Magazine
Bao Bao’s very first feature showed off some gorgeous photos and shared weird panda facts. (Here's one: Pandas never actually evolved to eat bamboo, but have inexplicably lost their taste for meat.) The article also tried to sort out humans’ obsession with pandas. The likely reason: Just look at them.
Oak Room/Getty Images
Both U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan recorded videos for the ceremony in December 2013, held on Bao Bao's 100th day of life. "Bao Bao symbolizes 41 years of research and collaboration both at the National Zoo and in China," said zoo director Dennis Kelly.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Way back in Bao Bao's tiniest days, mama Mei Xiang passed over snacking opportunities so she could continue to snuggle her cub. Yes, Bao Bao had just that kind of power.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
It's enough to want to put a helmet on the little critter. As Bao Bao began exploring her den more, she naturally gravitated toward that cool rock structure. She looked sure-footed... at first. Fortunately, mama Mei Xiang quickly came to her rescue.
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman was in town to host the "Christmas in Washington" special in 2013, which the first family also attended. But with whom did he get a photo first? Well, it wasn't the president.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Since panda fetuses are almost impossible to detect via ultrasound, Bao Bao’s unexpected birth on Aug. 23, 2013 was like getting a surprise party with all your best friends, and also with a donut truck parked right outside. The big moment was captured on video, and zoo vets say the footage has greatly contributed to their knowledge of panda moms' labors and deliveries.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
It was the video that launched a thousand YouTube windows. Bao Bao -- still unnamed at the time -- hated being measured, and her vocalizations sounded something like, "OWW! OWW! OWW!" OK, Bao Bao, we've never had tails, but we doubt it actually hurts to have one measured. Even so, our sympathy was with you.
"We know she's going to go to China, and hopefully have little Bao Baos or Bao Bao juniors or whatever you want to call them ... and fulfill her destiny of becoming a mom and adding to the population of pandas," Johnson said.
All panda cubs born at the zoo must move to China before they turn 4.
Bao Bao won't turn 4 until August, but the zoo has said it's better for pandas to travel in the winter months when it's cool.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Can you believe Bao Bao was ever this teeny? It was a huge, nervewracking event when this little girl made her way into the world. She would become the National Zoo's first surviving panda cub in a long eight years -- and just the zoo's second surviving cub ever. Just a year before, another cub died within its first week of life.
Bao Bao made her grand arrival on the afternoon of Aug. 23, 2013. She was healthy, but her female twin was stillborn, zookeepers said. But keepers quickly checked the surviving little cub's vital signs, which were strong. Bao Bao -- who of course didn't have her name yet -- weighed 137 grams (4.8 ounces), had good heart and lung sounds, and good signs for intestinal function. Mama Mei Xiang had been on a 24-hour pregnancy watch in the weeks leading up to the birth, after she began cradling her toys, licking her body and "nesting."
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Panda cubs are born nearly hairless, but within just a month of her birth, the cub was already donning her black-and-white markings.
National Zoo
Bao Bao underwent her first comprehensive vet exam in September 2013, weighing in at almost two pounds, vets said.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Bao Bao is the daughter of Tian Tian, the zoo's male panda. Mei Xiang had been artificially inseminated twice on March 30 after failing to breed naturally with Tian Tian. Zoo officials say she was inseminated with fresh and previously frozen semen from both Tian Tian and Gao Gao, a panda at the San Diego Zoo.
Abby Wood; Smithsonian's National Zoo
Unscientific, but the plastic storage bin phase is hands-down the best phase of panda development.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
There was a blackout on panda news during the 2013 government shutdown, but the zoo was able to provide new updates just hours after the shutdown ended. The cub, by then eight weeks old, weighed in at more than five pounds, and her eyes had partially opened.
By mid-October 2013, she weighed in at 5 pounds.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Here's Bao Bao in November 2013. She clearly was not taking anyone's nonsense.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Toys can be pretty tasty.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Once Bao Bao began playing outside, the cute photo ops multiplied exponentially.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
See what we mean?
Smithsonian's National Zoo
For Bao Bao's first birthday, the National Zoo held a traditional Chinese ceremony to predict her future. Three posters painted with symbols were hung with honey treats under each. The symbols were peaches (longevity), bamboo (good health), and pomegranates (fertility).
nBao Bao chose the peaches first, which, according to the ceremony, means she will live a long life. One other thing was for sure: Her future also contained cake. Well, "cake."
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Bao Bao got to enjoy a tiered "cake" made of frozen diluted apple juice and dyed varying shades of pink with beet juice. Frozen between the tiers were apple and pear slices, some of pandas’ favorite foods. The cake was decorated with flowers carved from carrots and sweet potatoes.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Clearly, it was a wild party.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Some highlights of Bao Bao's first year: the time she slurped down a frozen fruitsicle, her first foray into the outside world and the video that launched a thousand YouTube windows: Bao Bao loudly protesting as her tail was measured by zookeepers.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Striking a pose in August 2014, the month she turned 1.
It was a harrowing holiday in 2014: Bao Bao spent most of Christmas Eve up in a tree after apparently touching a "hot wire" in her enclosure and getting scared (and scaring pretty much everyone in the D.C. area). She spent more than 24 hours in the tree starting the night of Dec. 23. Bao Bao's doting mom, Mei Xiang, also spent the night outdoors, waiting underneath the tree and keeping watch. Keepers said she was a little concerned. Bao Bao finally came down late on Christmas Eve.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
What's black and white and black and white and black and white? A panda rolling down a hill on a snow day, of course!
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Is this panda photogenic or what?
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Enjoying a sunny day at the zoo.
National Zoo
Bao Bao celebrated her 2nd birthday in August 2015 with a frozen "cake," but she would also have been eligible to receive one of those "I'm a big sister!" shirts. Mama Mei Xiang had given birth to twin cubs just a day earlier. (One later died; the surviving cub is Bao's little brother, Bei Bei.)
Smithsonian's National Zoo
Bao Bao munched leaves while out playing in the snow ahead of the Blizzard of 2016.
Smithsonian's National Zoo
After the blizzard, Bao Bao sat in the snow, enjoying the sunlight (and especially enjoying a yummy piece of sugarcane).
Skip Brown and Kyra Zemanick, Smithsonian's National Zoo
When Bao Bao turned 3 in August 2016, we knew a "goodbye" was on the horizon.... Pandas born in the U.S. generally return to China by age 4. Bao Bao's leaving a few months early because keepers say it's more comfortable for pandas to travel during cool weather.
Bao Bao and Tai Shan's late grandfather, Pan Pan, was the Chinese breeding program's superstar. He fathered at least 32 cubs, and can count among his descendants about one-quarter of the world's population of captive-born pandas.
Bao Bao is the second of three surviving cubs born to Mei Xiang during her time at the zoo. She and a stillborn female twin were born Aug. 23, 2013. Her birth was especially exciting because it had been years — eight, in fact — since the National Zoo had a surviving cub.
Bao Bao now weighs 180 pounds and is classified as a "sub-adult."
Pandas can begin breeding between the ages of 4 and 6.
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