Beijing – Bao Bao the giant panda arrived in the city of Chengdu in southern China on Thursday after a nearly 17-hour flight from Washington, DC.
She was sent to China to breed under a programme started more than 40 years ago between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
An American zookeeper who has cared for Bao Bao since her birth, accompanied Bao Bao on the flight and will remain with her while she acclimates to her new home.
CHENGDU, Feb. 22, 2017 Giant panda Bao Bao is being transferred at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Feb. 22, 2017. A charter flight carrying Bao Bao, a giant panda born in the United States, landed in Chengdu, after a 16 and a half hour flight. zyd) (Credit Image: © Liu Kun/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)
Bao Bao was born in August 2013 and enjoyed life in Washington as a celebrity. The bamboo-munching animal’s life in the National Zoo in Washington was feted in several parties featuring ice cake treats in the days leading up to her departure.
Bao Bao’s Chinese keepers will drive her to Dujiangyan Panda Base, where she will stay in quarantine for approximately 30 days.
Bao Bao is the 11th giant panda born in a foreign zoo to be brought to China.
There are estimated to be 1,600 giant pandas remaining in the wild in China, mainly in the south-western provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi.
–(dpa)
