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Summary
Born in the US, panda Tai Shan won the hearts of visitors to Washington's National Zoo. But under an agreement with China, he'll now be part of a panda breeding program there. In virtually all cases, babies born on US soil are American citizens, even when their parents are foreign. One exception is that of panda bear cubs born in US zoos to parents lent by the Chinese government. Those cubs may have seen their first light of day from American soil; they may have grown up consuming American bamboo. But they remain Chinese, under the terms of the agreement worked out between American zoos and China, the species' native land. The citizens of Washington, D.C., were reminded of that bittersweet exception Friday when the Washington zoo announced that Tai Shan, the panda who captured the capital city's heart when he was born at the zoo in 2005, will leave home for China early next year.
