Remembering Tai Shan: Four Years of Butterstick Memories
Tai Shan, the National Zoo's main attraction for the last four years and its only surviving giant panda cub, will be taken to China sometime in early 2010, Zoo officials said today. News that the Zoo's lease on the young panda would not be renewed first broke early this morning.
Permits to transport Tai Shan to his new home at the Wolong's Beifengxia Base, in Ya'an, Sichuan, have already been submitted, and the panda is expected to depart D.C. sometime at the end of January or early February, according to Zoo spokesperson Karin Korpowski-Gallo. So you still have a couple of months, just barely, to get your fix.
Tai Shan was born at the National Zoo on July 9, 2005, weighing only a few ounces. Due to his tiny size, initial media reports referred to the baby cub as "the size of a stick of butter," leading former DCist Music Editor Catherine Andrews and DCist Tech Director Tom Lee to dub the little furball, 'Butterstick.' The name rapidly caught on, though the Zoo eventually asked the public to vote on an "official name," which ended up being Tai Shan. Despite his having grown up since then, he'll always be Butterstick in our hearts.
A lot of questions remain about the future of the panda program at the National Zoo. The agreement between China and the Zoo to house Tai Shan's parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, expires at the end of 2010, and negotiations on whether or not the Zoo will keep them have yet to begin. Acting National Zoo Director Steve Monfort said this morning that he anticipated talks for the other two pandas would begin in the early spring. Zoo officials have repeatedly stated their commitment to having pandas, but which pandas we might see in the coming years is not a sure thing.
"Our first obligation is what's best for the species," Monfort said. "Of course, our staff would love for them [Mei Xiang and Tian Tian] to stay."
We don't have to say goodbye today, but soon enough, Tai Shan will head back to his ancestral homeland, where he will enter China's breeding program, perhaps to sire his own little 'Stick someday. In the meantime, we're in a bit of Butterstick Shock. Take a look back at these photos of D.C.'s favorite animal as he grew up right before our eyes. And start making your plans to stop by and wish the little guy a safe journey.