The famous Bao Bao Panda, who is merely three years old, has departed the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington and is currently on a flight to China. The baby panda will arrive at the Chengdu airport in the next couple of hours.

Bao Bao departed the Smithsonian wildlife park as part of an agreement signed during the President Richard Dixon's era. According to this agreement, all the foreign-born pandas exhibiting Chinese panda habits and behaviors will be sent back to China to join the breeding program.            

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Bao Bao was born in March 2013 to her parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. The news of her birth was enthusiastically reported across the national media, as a result of which thousands of curious visitors thronged to the zoo to watch this baby panda.   

The curiosity of American citizens was understandable, considering that that cute looking Pandas are one of the most endangered species and Bao Bao happens to be one of the only 2,000 pandas alive today.      

Zoo director Dennis Kelly called Bao Bao's departure a "really bittersweet day" for the zoo, adding that "We're going to miss her so much." The Smithsonian zoo is now left with only three pandas.     

China's ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, was present at the zoo to receive the Panda. He will be accompanying this the Panda to China along with a keeper and a veterinarian. The authorities have stuffed the FedEx plane with lot of food including 25 kg of bamboo to ensure that this rare animal does not go hungry.

However, Bao Bao enjoyed a much lavish food treat during the week before her departure. She was pampered with ice cakes made of frozen fruit juices and vegetables.

Bao Bao's younger sibling brother Bei Bei, who was born in 2015 and their parents will continue their stay at the zoo as part of its breeding programme, which will continue until December 2020.     

TagsBao Bao Panda, china, China Panda, Panda, Pandas in US