Giant Panda Xiao Qi Ji, left, celebrates his 9-month birthday with his mother Mei Xiang, 22 years of age, as visitors make their return to the Smithsonian National Zoo on May 21, 2021 in Washington.
Syndication: USA TODAY
(Washington, D.C.) — The three National Zoo giant pandas are headed back to China. It marks the end of more than five decades of pandas calling the Washington, D.C. zoo their home. There hasn’t been any official explanation of why China wants the pandas back, but relations between China and the U.S. have been frosty. China first gave two giant pandas two the U.S. in 1972 as a symbol of diplomacy after President Nixon visited the country. They traveled down Connecticut Avenue and then through Northern Virginia to board a specially equipped FedEx plane back to China.
