WASHINGTON – Chinese officials say they've reached an agreement with the National Zoo to keep a pair of giant pandas in Washington for five more years.
Zang Chunlin, secretary general of the China Wildlife Conservation Association, said at a news conference Wednesday that the pandas will remain until December 2015. He says an agreement was reached on the extension last month.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian had been on a 10-year, $10 million loan expiring in late 2010. There is a $2.5 million loan associated with the extension.
Pandas have a long history in Washington. The first panda couple, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived in 1972 and lived more than 20 years at the zoo after President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China.
