The 7-month-old Tai Shan plays with mother Mei Xiang in February 2006 at the National Zoo. White House Photo by Shealah Craighead.
The National Zoo is expected to announce one of D.C.’s most adorable and beloved residents, Tai Shan, will return to China this year.
Tai, born at the National Zoo in 2005, was originally scheduled to return to China when he turned two, but the zoo negotiated an extended stay with the Chinese government in 2007. His parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, remain at the zoo under a 10-year, $10 million agreement but are slated to go back to China next year.
Tai, whose name means “Peaceful Mountain,” has drawn millions of visitors to the National Zoo and has been the subject of a 24-hour panda cam, an Animal Planet documentary and plenty of daily adoration from the general public.
Pictures of Tai and his parents are available here and here. This reporter is a sad panda about the news.
