Garrett Sheetz has always seen giant pandas in picture books, but never in real life, so he was more than thrilled when his parents drove six hours from their home in San Jose, California, to the San Diego Zoo to see the chubby bears up close.

"I like best how I get to see them in real life," the 7-year-old said on Friday as he and his family sat outside a photo booth in the Panda Canyon at the zoo, waiting patiently for staff to print photos of them and the pandas.

Garrett's encounter with the cuddly creatures turned out to be timely. This spring, the zoo's two last remaining pandas, 27-year-old Baiyun and her 6-year-old son, Xiao Liwu, are heading back to China as the zoo's landmark conservation loan agreement with Beijing comes to an end.