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       Generations of Washingtonians have treasured memories of the pandas at the National Zoo. As the city’s favorite black-and-white bears prepare to leave for China, we asked some panda experts and fans to share their experiences. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

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       Judith Martin, Washington Post reporter

       Judith Martin, now known to millions of followers as Miss Manners, was The Post’s original panda beat reporter, covering their arrival at the zoo in 1972 and chronicling their unsuccessful mating attempts over the ensuing years. “I was once known at The Post as ‘Madam Panda’ because my beat was the sex life of the original pandas,” she says by phone from Europe. “Only they didn’t have one.” Here, she discusses her time on Panda Watch.

       I’m just lucky, I guess. I had an editor who had heard rumors that I was a humorist and used to say, ‘I want a d--- funny story,’ which, of course, froze me. Anyway, animals seemed inherently funny, and I was supposed to be a funny writer. So there we were.

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       [So many times, the headline was “Will they or won’t they?”] It was always “won’t they.” But a very charming man who was the director of the zoo, Ted Reed — and I’m sure I put this in a story — said to me that, when pandas were trying to go at it, the male tried to put it into her ear, and of course, she swatted him.

       Pandas look like your childhood toys. I remember everybody goes “Awwwww” and “They’re so cuddly” and “They’re so this and that.” And the zookeepers would say to me, “I wouldn’t cuddle them if I were you; they would swat you pretty, pretty severely.” They seem to be so warm and friendly and cuddly that everybody just adores them. And, of course, they’re unusual here. When I was covering it, it became a huge Washington thing that we had the pandas. But I’ll tell you something. I don’t remember if I got this into a story or not. I think I tried. As you know, the zoo has federal money and Congress takes an interest. And I believe there were some nighttime parties, which I was not invited to cover, where there were members of Congress who were invited to try to watch the attempts at procreation. Did I put that delicately enough? That was a congressional perk.

       But as you well know and as I found out continually, the pandas do not want to mate when — how shall I say it? — when they don’t have privacy. Come to think of it, that’s true of the rest of us, too. But they tend not to mate in captivity. It’s a difficult thing. So it was a challenge. But we just wanted to keep a supply of pandas. And, of course, pandas are adorable. There’s nothing more adorable than a baby panda. They’re about the size of a stick of butter when they’re born, but they very rapidly grab everybody’s heart.

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       We want more pandas. The idea that we would be totally bereft of pandas now that we’ve gotten the panda habit, it appalls people.

       Leslie Wilkes, longtime Giant Panda Cam volunteer

       Leslie Wilkes, 78, has volunteered at the zoo since 2005. She is one of the devoted workers of the Giant Panda Cam, a live, around-the-clock broadcast of the panda’s enclosure. Wilkes has worked 1 to 4 a.m. and 4 to 7 a.m., among other shifts, at least once a week since the birth of Tai Shan, collecting data for the zoo’s researchers.

       I read this article in the paper about a panda cub being born at the zoo and they were looking for volunteers. I said, “Wow, wouldn’t that be fun?” So 18 years later, here I am.

       Watching Mei Xiang teach the cubs what they need to know in order to be a panda is more fun than anything. She’s a wonderful mother. She would sit down at a pile of bamboo, pick up a stalk and start to eat it. Xiao Qi Ji would walk over and sit down next to her and try to take the bamboo away from her. If it was good enough for Mom, it was good enough for him. She would immediately break it and keep the piece she had, and he could take the other piece.

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       I don’t think I ever did get bored. I just thought it was fun. I like to see how the animals live. I don’t want to just say, “Oh, that furry thing is black and white. It must be a giant panda.” I want to know what they do, what they’re like, how they spend their time.

       I’m really proud that I’ve been able to work with the pandas and take data for the scientists who want to study them, but I will miss them. I hope we get more. But, you know, it’s a big zoo. I don’t plan to stop volunteering.

       Kirsten Svane, panda superfan

       Kirsten Svane, 32, runs an Instagram account (dc_pandagirl) dedicated solely to the zoo’s giant pandas with over 30,000 followers.

       I moved to Woodley Park right before the pandemic hit. I didn’t really know anyone, so it wasn’t looking great when everything shut down. I started watching the Panda Cam all the time. That saved me. Then, of course, we had the baby, Xiao Qi Ji, in August of 2020, and I started watching even more.

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       Then once the zoo opened in real life, I got to see him, and it was an amazing, magical moment, getting to see a baby panda for the first time in my life. There’s a whole community of people who go regularly, so I started meeting people and taking pictures and posting them online. I built up a following on Instagram. I have some loyal followers who comment regularly, and they’re not even all based in D.C. You can tell how it really makes their day. Just watching them eat bamboo or, of course, roll down the hill, everything else in the world and your life just melts away and somehow everything feels okay.

       It’s going to be a tough adjustment when they leave. I’m still in denial a little bit. The zoo won’t be the same without them. The city won’t be the same without them.

       Polly Hanson, former zoo souvenir shop employee

       Polly Hanson was hired as a shopgirl at the zoo’s souvenir counter (yes, in 1972 it was still a counter) in anticipation of increased visitation after the arrival of the zoo’s original pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing. It was the first time the United States had seen pandas in nearly 20 years.

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       My parents didn’t want me to have a real [non-babysitting] job. When they went out of town, I saw in The Washington Post an advertisement for shopgirls, when girls only worked in the gift shop and boys blew up balloons. I was 15 or 16, and I could take the bus to get there.

       One lady [customer] had me bring to the window just everything there was — stuffed animals, posters, cards, trinkets and plastic figurines. A line of other shoppers had formed behind her. Finally, I brought her the prints that were about the size of a folded piece of paper, with beautifully done depictions and the Chinese style of brushed ink. She examined them and scoffed: “These aren’t even signed.”

       “No, ma’am, the pandas haven’t learned to write yet.”

       I can still see the look on her face. Everybody laughed, but she complained, and I got in trouble with my supervisor. But I eventually became a mother myself. I always took my kids to the zoo, and I’ve seen every panda. My son is 37 now, and he’s seen every panda since he was born. I cried when I said goodbye to them, during Panda Palooza, and it was just pouring rain. I just have really strong memories of both working at the zoo and seeing the neighborhood kids come in there. It’ll be a challenge to fill that space in people’s hearts when they depart.

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