February 5, 201016 yr Tai Shan officially began his journey to China early this morning, leaving the National Zoo at 9:04 a.m. The four-and-a-half-year-old giant panda is on his way to Dulles International Airport, where he will board a FedEx 777 plane bound for Chengdu. The non-stop flight will take about 14 hours. Over the years, Tai Shan has become a celebrity in Washington, and will now take on a new role in China as part of a panda breeding program at Wolong's Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya'an, Sichuan. Since his birth July 9, 2005, Tai Shan, whose name means "peaceful mountain," has attracted millions of visitors worldwide to the National Zoo and to the Zoo's panda cams. The Zoo successfully negotiated two extensions with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which allowed the Zoo to keep Tai Shan for two and a half years beyond the original two-year contract. "Tai Shan's departure is bittersweet for his fans and the Zoo staff, as he has been a true ambassador for the giant panda species in the United States over the past four and a half years," said Steven Monfort, the Zoo's acting director. "Because we had the opportunity to keep him longer, our Chinese partners have allowed us to learn more about giant pandas by charting his growth and development. But the time has come to say goodbye, and we know Tai's next phase will be to help save his species in China." *Have fun and good luck cutie! :kiss:
February 5, 201016 yr Author My best friend is obsessed with him, we had a going away party with brownies at lunch. :nice:
February 5, 201016 yr Pandas <3 I'm in a sculpture class and we're doing stone carving, and I'm making a panda.
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