Giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian will leave Smithsonian’s National Zoo for China at the end of 2023, the zoo announced Monday, by way of sharing the news of a three-year extension to its agreement with the China Wildlife and Conservation Association. Their cub Xiao Qi Ji is currently slated to leave at the same time, but, a spokesperson for the zoo says, that’s not totally set in stone yet.
The zoo’s most recent deal with the CWCA covered 2015-2020 and called for the pandas to stay in Washington until the end of this year. Despite a trade war initiated by the outgoing President, trade experts generally consider it unlikely that pandas could get caught up in US-China geopolitical calculations: “No government is going to change their policy over pandas,” one researcher told Washingtonian last year.
![Mei Xiang (L) and Tian Tian (R) - Washingtonian Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. Photo courtesy of the National Zoo.](https://www.washingtonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/mei-xiang-tian-tian.jpg)
So while Mei Xiang and Tian Tian must definitely get their passports in order, Xiao Qi Ji, who was born at the zoo this summer, doesn’t need to order a travel pillow just yet. Typically, pandas born at the zoo stay in Washington for four years. “We want to continue our giant program and when it comes time to re-negotiate, we’ll have discussions about conservation, research,” says zoo spokesperson Pamela Baker-Masson, “and what is in the best interest of Xiao Qi Ji and future breeding at our Zoo.”