China takes 3 of 5 pandas from Belgian zoo (2 photos + 4 videos)
The agreement between the countries was concluded for 15 years and will end only in 2029, but some of the bears will be taken out of the country this fall. 
Negotiations between the countries lasted almost a year so that the pandas could come to Belgium at the Pairi Daisa Zoo. Two young pandas, Hao Hao ("kind" in French) and Xing Hui ("blazing star"), were sent to the country.
But there was one condition in the agreement: all the offspring that the pandas produce during this time must be transferred to China.
The couple turned out to be extremely prolific. Just two years after the move, the park was expecting its first cub. On June 2, 2016, Hao Hao gave birth to a male weighing only 171 grams. On September 15, it will be officially named Tian Bao, or "heavenly treasure" in French.
Three years later, on August 8, 2019, twins, a male and a female, were born two hours apart. At that time, the cubs weighed 160 and 150 grams respectively and required special attention given their fragility. Finally, one hundred days after birth, they were named Bao Di (Tian Bao's younger brother) and Bao Mei (Tian Bao's younger sister).
The park didn't expect to keep them for that long, but currently all three pandas are still in place and will only go exploring China in the fall of 2024, Pairi Daiza said. Young pandas will not be returned to the wild once they arrive in their home country. However, the ultimate goal will be to return them to their natural habitat.
Thus, while in the 1980s there were 1,200 giant pandas in the wild, today there are already 1,864 in the wild, confirming the success of the international conservation program for this species.
