Washington Bids a Bittersweet Farewell to Beloved Panda

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2010— -- The goodbye party was not scheduled to start until 11a.m. but the guests began arriving hours early.

On a cold, snowy Saturday, panda fans from all around the country came to the National Zoo in Washington to bid a fond and final farewell to the guest of honor - Tai Shan, Washington's beloved panda cub.

Bundled up visitors huddled in front of his zoo habitat, hoping to snap one more picture of the panda affectionately known as "Butterstick," because of the description doctors gave of his diminutive size when he was born in 2005.

Today is the last day to see Tai Shan at the National Zoo but the goodbyes started as soon as the zoo announced that the four and a half year old panda was going to move to China where he will take part in a global conservation program for pandas. Tai Shan has been on loan to the United States as part of a deal with China.

Conservationists estimate that there are currently only 1,600 pandas worldwide remaining in the wild and about 200 in captivity. Only three other zoos in the United States have giant pandas – San Diego, Atlanta and Memphis.

Tai Shan is now old enough to breed and the Chinese are eager for him to join their program to try and increase the population

On Thursday, Tai Shan will board a charter plane provided by FedEx and make the 14.5-hour flight to China. The panda will live at the China Conservation and Research Center's Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan, China, where the hope is that he will successfully breed.

The National Zoo planned an elaborate farewell to mark Tai Shan's last weekend in the United States, complete with balloons and cake and a carnival-like atmosphere. The bitter temperatures and falling snow did nothing to deter his admirers.

"My two daughters are very devastated the panda is leaving," Pam Gaston of Stafford, Va., told ABC News. "So they said they had to come and see him before he leaves."

Pam's daughters, Sydney and Lexi, said that Tai Shan was the cutest animal at the zoo and their favorite.