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Tourist favorites, giant pandas from China, will be back on display at National Zoo

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A, the pandas are back.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Oh, adorbs.

FADEL: (Laughter) Two giant pandas arrived yesterday at D.C.'s National Zoo from China. Bao Li and Qing Bao touched down at Dulles Airport in an aircraft nicknamed the FedEx Panda Express.

MARTÍNEZ: Oh, my gosh. I think we're really trying to pander to the audience.

FADEL: I think so. And once they arrived, they traveled to the zoo in true Washington fashion, a police-escorted motorcade. Their arrival marks the end of an 11-month chill in, shall we say, panda diplomacy.

MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, that's because China didn't provide the National Zoo with new pandas last year after the previous pandas went home. Any idea when we can check them out, Leila?

FADEL: Yeah, not until January. They have a mandatory quarantine period first. And they'll be in D.C. for the next 10 years.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.