The National Zoo said it hopes to have giant pandas for "many more decades" after a new agreement on Monday will allow its only remaining bear family — a couple both aged over 20 and their 4-month old cub — to stay through 2023, when they will return to China.

The extension agreement, signed between Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC and the Conservation Biology Institute and China Wildlife and Conservation Association, means Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the giant panda pair, will stay at the zoo for another three years after the current deal expired on Monday, according to a statement from the zoo.

Staying along with them will be their baby, who was born at the zoo on Aug 21 and was named Xiao Qi Ji ("Little Miracle") by thousands of American voters two weeks ago.

"Along with millions of Americans, I look forward to the next three years, watching Xiao Qi Ji grow and making further strides in conservation and in our understanding of giant pandas," National Zoo Director Steve Monfort said Monday.

It was the third time in a decade that the stay of giant pandas has been extended at the zoo.

The Giant Panda Cooperative Research and Breeding Agreement was first signed in 2000 for the giant panda pair Mei Xiang and Tian Tian to stay at the zoo for 10 years.

When the 10-year loan expired in 2010, the National Zoo and the Chinese side renewed the agreement twice, each for a five-year extension until Dec 7.

In an interview with China Daily late last month, Monfort said that despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, talks were ongoing with China for the bears to continue to stay in the US when the current agreement expired.
"It is our hope that we will have these pandas for just a few more years," he said.

"And then in the future, after they go to China, in the long run, we'd very much like to keep this relationship going, and maybe that means another agreement with a different set of pandas," he said.

Pamela Baker-Masson, associate director of communications and exhibits at the zoo, also said that the National Zoo wants to continue working with China for a very long time.

"It's our intent to have giant pandas at the Smithsonian's National Zoo for many more decades," Baker-Masson told China Daily.

"We are extremely happy about this extension, and when it comes time to think beyond 2023, there will be discussions again about how we can work together on giant panda conservation, research and breeding," she said.

The National Zoo has collaborated with China to study, care for and save the giant panda for nearly half a century.

The first giant panda couple, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, arrived in April 1972, weeks after then-US president Richard Nixon's historic China visit.
Over the next 20 years, that pair produced five cubs, but none survived more than a few days.

It was the arrival of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian in 2000 that changed the situation. Between 2005 and this year, Mei Xiang, age 22, has given birth to four surviving cubs.

Much of what the zoo's animal care staff and scientists know about giant panda biology, behavior and reproduction — knowledge shared with other institutions caring for and breeding this vulnerable species — is a result of caring for and studying Mei Xiang and Tian Tian over two decades, the zoo said in a statement.

The National Zoo got a $3 million donation from David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-CEO of The Carlyle Group.

In total, Rubenstein has donated $12 million in support of the zoo's giant panda conservation program. The home to the bears at the zoo has been named the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat.

"Giant pandas are an incredible species that still need our help," Rubenstein said. "Supporting the zoo's giant panda conservation program is very rewarding."

The donation will support conservation efforts in China, including research on restoring giant panda habitats, monitoring wildlife diseases, assessing the impact of climate change and supporting more conservation capacity-building programs, according to the zoo statement.

It said the fund also will support upgrades to the giant panda habitat and exhibit at the zoo, care for the pandas living at the zoo and public education about the species and conservation.

As a public health precaution due to COVID-19, the zoo is currently closed. Giant panda fans can see the cub and its parents via the Giant Panda Cam on the zoo's website.