The National Zoo’s giant panda, Bei Bei, will leave Washington, D.C., and head to China on Nov. 19. His zookeeper Laurie Thompson said there will be tears.

Bei Bei, age 4, is the last of the zoo’s three giant panda cubs to depart, and could be the last cub in Washington for a while, closing a joyous chapter in local history that began 14 years ago.

China owns and leases all giant pandas in U.S. zoos. Two of the zoo’s cubs have already been shipped to China — Tai Shan, a male, in 2010 and Bao Bao, a female, in 2017. Read more: https://wapo.st/2NGFEvT. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK

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