Bai Yun (; born September 7, 1991) was the first female

giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes u ...

who was born at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in China. From September 1996 she lived at the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is ...

for more than 20 years, until being returned to China in May 2019. Bai Yun gave birth to her sixth cub in 2012 since arriving at the San Diego Zoo, considered the most surviving pandas born at a breeding facility outside of native China. Bai Yun returned to China with her last-born (Xiao Liwu) as the 23-year conservation loan of the pandas came to an end between China and San Diego Zoo Global.

History

Bai Yun's mother, Dong Dong, was caught in the wild and was at the Panyu Xiangjiang Wild Animal World in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong ...

at the time of her death in 2011. Bai Yun's father, Pan Pan, who also sired

Tian Tian Tiantian or Tian Tian may refer to: * ''Pethia tiantian'' or ''P. tiantian'', a species of fish * Tian Tian (male giant panda) (添添 Tiān Tiān), a male panda on loan to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, US * Tian Tian (female giant panda) (� ...

, lived in

Zunyi Zunyi () is a prefecture-level city in northern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, situated between the provincial capital Guiyang to the south and Chongqing to the north, also bordering Sichuan to the northwest. Along with Guiyang an ...

. In the spring of 1999, Bai Yun was

artificially inseminated Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...

with sperm from

Shi Shi Shishi or shi shi may refer to: People *Empress Shi ( 23), or Shi Shi (史氏; "Woman Shi") *Shi Shi (emperor) (339–349), emperor of Later Zhao in 349 *Shi Shi (Taiwanese singer) (Sun Sheng Xi, born 1990) *Li Shishi (1062–1127), a Chinese cou ...

, the male panda at the zoo at that time. On August 21, 1999, Bai Yun gave birth to her first cub, Hua Mei, who is also the first giant panda born in the United States to survive to adulthood. Bai Yun has since given birth to five other cubs, Mei Sheng (2003), Su Lin (2005),

Zhen Zhen Zhen may refer to: * Towns of China, called zhèn () in Chinese * True (China), ''zhen'' in Chinese * Zhen (surname) (), a Chinese surname * Balhae Kingdom, originally called Zhen () in Chinese * Lady Zhen (183-221), wife of Cao Pi of Cao Wei of th ...

(2007), Yun Zi (2009), and

Xiao Liwu Xiao Liwu (; meaning: "Little Gift") is a male giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo on July 29, 2012. Xiao Liwu is the sixth cub born to his mother Bai Yun, and the fifth for his father Gao Gao. He has one half-sister, Hua Mei, through Bai Yun ...

(2012), all via natural mating. Bai Yun and these cubs' sire, Gao Gao, are considered the most reproductively successful panda parents in captivity. With the birth of Xiao Liwu in 2012, Bai Yun became the second oldest panda on record to give birth. The oldest panda on record to give birth was two days older than Bai Yun at the time of birth of their respective cubs. As of May 2019, Bai Yun is the mother of six, a grandmother of eight, and a great grandmother of two. After 23 years away from her home country, Bai Yun, and her son, Xiao Liwu were safely returned to China - specifically, Dujiangyan, the site of the China Giant Panda Conservation Research Center.

References

{{San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Individual giant pandas 1991 animal births San Diego Zoo