Bao Bao the Panda is escorted inside a FedEx transport vehicle. (Photo : Getty Images)
Bao Bao the panda is set to depart its home in the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. She has been a special attraction and has been seen by many from the time she was a U.S. panda cub.
The panda is 3 years old and will be traveling alone with a zookeeper and a veterinarian via a Federal Express flight. She will be the only panda on board.
Federal Express has donated flights for transport of pandas to Chengdu, China. The non-stop flight will last for 16 hours.
Fans and spectators watched the last day of Bao Bao's stay and saw the zoo's preparation for the trip. She will be bringing bamboo, apples, and cooked sweet potatoes.
Bao Bao will be part of the cooperative breeding program with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. Pandas will be sent back to China to be prepared for breeding which takes place at ages 5 and 6.
Laurice Thompson, the zoo's assistant curator, said that she hopes that Bao Bao's followers will still visit even after Bao Bao's absence.
Thompson called Bao Bao "our little special miracle girl." She added, "We get a lot of people who come just to see pandas, and then we hope they see the rest of the zoo."
One of the full-time panda keepers of the zoo, Mariel Lally, said, "I think I was the only one who was really sobbing."
Lally watched Bao Bao as she was put inside the FedEx truck.
The assistant curator admitted that she felt emotional as well. She said, "For us, it's bittersweet, but we also know that every panda that we send to China is adding to the population and is adding to the breeding program, and hopefully someday her offspring will go back into the wild."
She added, "We're sending an animal and its genes."
