See These Adorable Pandas Before They Leave the U.S. for China
Bao Bao, Mei Lun, and Mei Huan are China-bound.
Visitors and residents of Atlanta, Georgia, will have to hurry to see the city's beloved panda duo before they leave town November 3.
Mei Lun and Mei Huan, three year-old twins born in 2013, will be joined by Bao Bao the panda in Washington, D.C., to return to China. Bao Bao will be leaving the National Zoo in 2017.
Atlanta’s panda twins, which were the first surviving pair born in the U.S., were on loan from China and are set to return to join a breeding program there.
“We’ve watched them grow up with us at Zoo Atlanta, and now it’s time to wish them well as they move on to one of the biggest milestones in the life of an American-born panda,” read an excerpt from the zoo's announcement on their website.
The pandas will take with them a few important supplies for their journey, including bamboo, sugarcane and bananas, the Associated Press reported.
Giant panda populations have rebounded in the past decade, thanks to conservation efforts and breeding schemes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature took them off the endangered species list in September.
Mei Lun and Mei Huan will continue in the tradition of their fellow giant pandas by creating more adorable fluffy cubs at their new home at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.