Giant Panda Tai Shan Will Leave the National Zoo for China Early Next Year

Dec. 4, 2009 — -- Time's up for Washington, D.C.'s furriest celebrity.

Four-year-old Tai Shan, the first surviving Giant Panda born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, will be sent to the People's Republic of China early next year, zoo officials said today.

Giant Pandas born at the National Zoo belong to China and are supposed to be sent back after their second birthdays for breeding, according to the panda loan agreement between the Chinese government and zoo officials.

Tai Shan was granted a two-year extension in April 2007 but will not be allowed to stay with his parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who will remain at the Washington zoo until December 2010, barring any future negotiations.

While all of Washington will surely mourn the day they have to bid farewell to the beloved Tai Shan, there is perhaps nobody sadder to see him go than Lisa Stevens.

Stevens, the primate curator at the National Zoo, has raised Tai Shan since he was born and has spent nearly every day with the panda.

"I feel sad," Stevens told ABCNews.com. "I feel that now I have to enjoy every day I have left with him."

Tai Shan, who weighs 190 pounds, has developed a personality of his own, Stevens said, and is confident and flexible, characteristics that she says will help him adjust to life in China.

"He deals with change very well so we're confident that he'll transition back to China easily," Stevens said.

As for Tai Shan's favorite pastimes, Stevens said, he likes to "eat and sleep, with an emphasis on sleep."

Indeed, Tai Shan slept through most of the news conference this morning announcing his upcoming journey to China.

The Chinese Embassy in the United States did not return messages for comment.