Damn

I will miss the the pandas formerly residing at the National zoo.

They are on their way back to China:

Early this morning, the three pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo were coaxed into large metal crates, then taken by forklift up the zoo’s main walkway toward three waiting FedEx trucks, past a gaggle of dozens of members of the media from around the world.

Giant pandas Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and Xiao Qi Ji have begun their journey from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo to Chengdu, China.

The animals are among the District’s cutest, furriest, and most famous residents.

It's kind of a bummer, but China is doing good work on recovering and rewilding pandas, so there is that.