Photo by Daniel.Techie {TCP/IP} @ 127.0.0.1

We knew this day was probably coming, but somehow we still weren’t prepared. Tai Shan, the National Zoo’s only surviving giant panda cub, the pride and joy of Washington, the one and only Butterstick, is being snatched away from us. Zoo officials have scheduled a 10 a.m. press conference this morning to announce that our favorite furball will soon be sent to the People’s Republic of China, per the agreement between the Zoo and the Chinese government.

In an advisory to the media early this morning, Zoo officials said that the extensions China has already granted to allow Tai Shan to stay past his second birthday will soon expire. The panda celebrated his fourth birthday in July, and at the time the Zoo acknowledged that while it was fully committed to its panda program, it probably wouldn’t be able to keep Tai Shan past the end of this year.

Tai Shan’s parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, are also at the zoo under a loan agreement with China (theirs is for 10 years) and are scheduled to go back at the end of 2010.

It’s not yet clear how soon we might have to say goodbye to the ‘Stick, but you can bet that the Zoo will be packed this weekend, despite a forecast that includes some snow on Saturday.

Like the rest of D.C., we’ve loved Tai Shan since the first moment we clapped eyes on him. Stay tuned for more on this story after the press conference, along with plenty of Butterstick-themed retrospectives. In the meantime, you can sift through four years of intense panda coverage here, here and here.