Panda cub Bao Bao roams in an enclosure at the National Zoo in Washington in 2015. She is scheduled to depart the zoo today for a panda breeding program in China.

WASHINGTON — The National Zoo is packing up its American-born panda cub Bao Bao for a one-way flight to China, where the 3-year-old will eventually join a panda breeding program.

The cub will travel in a special metal crate the size of a double bed she can stretch out in for the 16-hour, nonstop flight leaving today. She’ll have her favorite foods: bamboo, apples and sweet potatoes.

“Most of the flight, we hope she’s going to eat,” said panda keeper Marty Dearie, who said pandas spend 13 to 16 hours a day eating.

Once Bao Bao arrives in Chengdu, China, she’ll be driven to her new home, a base run by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Dearie will briefly remain with her while she gets adjusted. When Bao Bao reaches sexual maturity, between 5 and 6 years old, she’ll become part of a panda breeding program.

Bao Bao delighted the zoo and panda fans when she was born Aug. 23, 2013. Her mother, Mei Xiang, gave birth to her first cub, Tai Shan, in 2005, but then failed to get pregnant for years. Then, a cub born in 2012 didn’t survive.

Bao Bao, whose name means “precious treasure” in Chinese, has grown from about the size of a stick of butter to more than 200 pounds. With her departure, the National Zoo has three remaining pandas.