Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Fact Sheet: SDZWA

1980s

• 1987: first giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo (Shaw 1987)
  • Basi (female) and Yuan Yuan (male) (Shaw 1987; “PandAntics” 1987)
  • Arrived on July 23, 1987 (“PandAntics” 1987)
  • From Fuzhou Zoo in China; at San Diego Zoo 200-days (Shaw 1987; “PandAntics” 1987; “Basi and Yuan Yuan…” 1988)
  • More than 2 million guests saw them during their stay (“Basi and Yuan Yuan…” 1988)

1990s

• 1996: 2 giant pandas arrive at the San Diego Zoo (“Black & white arrival” 1996)
  • Bai Yun (female) and Shi Shi (male) (“Black & white arrival” 1996)
  • Arrived September 10, 1996 (“Black & white arrival” 1996)
  • 12-year research agreement from the Wolong Giant Panda Conservation Center (“Black & white arrival” 1996)
    • Part of a global giant panda conservation program (“Black & white arrival” 1996)
• 1999: Bai Yun gave birth to a female cub (Lindburg and Czekala 1999)
  • First giant panda born in the Western Hemisphere in a decade (Diamant 2000)
  • Bai Yun artificially inseminated with sperm from Shi Shi (Lindburg and Czekala 1999)
  • San Diego Zoo launched its famous Panda Cam (Diamant 2000)
  • Bai Yun’s cub born on August 21, 1999 (Lindburg and Czekala 1999; Bacon et al. 2000)
  • After 100 days, given the name Hua Mei, meaning “China–USA,” to celebrate the conservation partnership between the 2 countries (Bacon et al. 2000; Diamant 2000)

2000s

• 2003: Gao Gao, a male giant panda, arrived in San Diego after Shi Shi returned to China (McKeever 2003)
  • Visit began January 15, 2003 (McKeever 2003)
  • In China, Gao Gao—who had been orphaned, rescued, and later reintroduced—had become too accustomed to people and human food sources to remain in the wild (McKeever 2003)
• 2003 to 2012: Bai Yun gave birth to five more cubs, all sired by Gao Gao (Scott 2012)
  • Mei Sheng (male), born August 19, 2003
  • Su Lin (female), born August 2, 2005
  • Zhen Zhen (female), born August 3, 2007
  • Yun Zi (male), born August 5, 2009
  • Xiao Liwu (male), born July 29, 2012

2010s

• October 2018
  • Gao Gao returns to China, after living at the San Diego Zoo for 15 years (Owen 2018)
• May 2019
  • San Diego Zoo’s long-term agreement with China ends (San Diego Zoo Global Public Relations 2019)
    • Initial conservation program goals met
    • SDZWA celebrates 25 years of panda research and cooperative conservation efforts (San Diego Zoo Global Public Relations 2019)
  • Bai Yun (27 years old) and Xiao Liwu (6 years old) return to China (San Diego Zoo Global Public Relations 2019)
    • Bai Yun lived at the San Diego Zoo for more than 20 years (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 2024b)

2020s

• February 2024
  • San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance completed a new cooperative agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 2024a)
    • Marked 30 years of conservation partnership (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 2024b)
• August 2024
  • San Diego Zoo opened a newly renovated Panda Ridge habitat (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 2024b)
  • 2 pandas, Xin Bao (female) and Yun Chuan (male) arrived in June (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 2024b)
    • First pandas to enter the U.S. in more than 2 decades (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 2024b)
    • Yun Chuan’s mother, Zhen Zhen, was born at the San Diego Zoo in 2007 (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Public Relations 2024b)

Live cam

• San Diego Zoo: Giant Panda Cam