National Zoo panda Bao Bao arrived in Chengdu around 7 p.m. local time on Wednesday after a warm farewell from her fans in Washington D.C.
The 3 1/2-year-old giant panda left the National Zoo in Washington on Tuesday and was accompanied by two keepers and a veterinarian on the 16-hour nonstop flight.
A U.S. agreement with China requires all pandas born in the U.S. to be sent to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda for breeding, typically when the panda is 4. Bao Bao’s parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, are on loan from the Chinese government. Under terms of the agreement, any offspring must return to China.
Dozens of Bao Bao’s fans went to the Chengdu airport to meet the panda on Wednesday.
The National Zoo told the Associated Press that Bao Bao is traveling now, before she turns 4, because it’s better for pandas to travel in the winter when the weather is cool. That allows pandas to travel in a more comfortable environment.
Wei Ming, an expert at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, told the Xinhua News Agency that pandas are quarantined for 30 days before they can meet the public.
Bao Bao will need some time to get acclimated to the weather and the food in her new home. Her new keepers also will retrain Bao Bao to understand the Sichuan dialect.
