Two giant pandas and their cub are headed from the National Zoo in Washington to China.

The National Zoo’s three three celebrity pandas will be heading home a little earlier than expected.

The pandas are currently in Washington, D.C. because of a loan agreement established between the Zoo and the Chinese government. But that arrangement is about to end.

The “cake” was made from frozen fruit juice, sweet potatoes, carrots and sugar cane and it lasted about 15 minutes once giant panda mama Mei Xiang and her cub Xiao Qi Ji got hold of it.

But the agreement also calls for all three pandas — baby Xiao Qi Ji and parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian — to return to China at the end of 2023. Three of their cubs have survived to adulthood and were each returned to China, under terms of the zoo's agreement, at age three. Mei Xiang, 22, and Tian Tian, 23, are both well into panda middle age. Mei Xiang is the oldest giant panda to successfully give birth outside of China. For now, panda enthusiasts will have to turn to the zoo's popular Panda-cam for glimpses of the family.

WASHINGTON – In response to rising COVID-19 infection numbers, the Smithsonian Institution is indefinitely shutting down operations at all its facilities, effective Monday and affecting seven museums, plus the National Zoo. The Smithsonian said in a statement that its “top priority is to protect the health and safety of its visitors and staff.” No reopening date is scheduled. The decision comes at a time of rising speculation over whether the District of Columbia will tighten virus restrictions in the face of a nationwide spike. Since then, Smithsonian officials have gradually opened up other facilities, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Museum of African-American History and Culture. "Due to the changing nature of the situation, we are not announcing a reopening date at this time," the Smithsonian said in its statement.