A pair of giant pandas left China on Monday for the National Zoo, taking up residence in the nation’s capital weeks before the U.S. presidential election.

Male Bao Li and female Qing Bao, both 3 years old, will fill the large void left at the National Zoo’s now-renovated panda exhibit when their predecessors – a couple that had been there for 24 years and their cub – were sent to China in November at the expiration of their lease.