News & Politics

Pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao Will Meet the Public on January 24

The Panda Cam will return that day as well.

Two-year-old female giant panda Qing Bao in her habitat at Dujiangyan Base in Sichuan, China May 17. Photograph by Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

The National Zoo’s new pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, arrived in the DC area Tuesday. The zoo closed Tuesday to accommodate its new residents, the Washington Post reports.

The pandas will quarantine for 30 days, the zoo says in a press release. Then, they’ll have a few months to adapt to their new home: The David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat, Bird House and Asia Trail will be closed until January 24, 2025, when the pandas are scheduled to make their public debut. The zoo’s Giant Panda Cam will return at that time as well.

Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.