The National Zoo’s three pandas have starting their long journey back to China. It’s not clear if, or when, we’ll see pandas again in D.C.

All three pandas at the National Zoo are scheduled to leave by December 7 in accordance with an agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. It’s not known if any pandas will be returning in the near future.

For five decades, the pandas have provoked something like a widespread local frenzy, adored and cherished by residents who treat the bears as they might a revered celebrity.

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The zoo hopes to have another panda cub sometime this year.

The female panda at the National Zoo is showing signs of impending estrus, the short window each year when she is ready to breed.

It was a panda baby fake-out.

Zoo officials say that the 18-year-old female panda is showing signs of estrus.

They’re now categorized as “vulnerable.”

Bei Bei turns 1, Bao Bao turns 3, and Tian Tian turns 19, all within a few days of one another. The National Zoo celebrated them on Saturday.