Bifengxia Giant Panda Base () is a

giant panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white animal coat, coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. ...

research and breeding facility in Bifengxia Town,

Ya'an Ya'an ( zh, s=雅安, p=Yǎ'ān, w=Ya-an) is a prefecture-level city in the western part of Sichuan province, China, located just below the Tibetan Plateau. The city is home to Sichuan Agricultural University, the only Project 211, 211 Project ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Since opening in 2004, it has become home to several more giant pandas. This includes the U.S.-born

Hua Mei Hua Mei (; intended meaning: "China/USA") (born August 21, 1999) is a female giant panda. She is the first giant panda cub to survive to adulthood in the United States. She was born to Bai Yun (mother) and Shi Shi (father) at the San Diego Zoo ...

and

Mei Sheng Mei Sheng (, lit. "Beautiful Life" or "Born in the USA"; born August 19, 2003) is a male giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo. He is the second panda to be born at the zoo and is the first offspring of Bai Yun and Gao Gao. He is the half-broth ...

, who were relocated there after the May 12, 2008, Sichuan earthquake severely damaged the panda breeding center at the

Wolong National Nature Reserve Wolong National Nature Reserve (from Chinese ), officially known as Wolong Special Administrative Region, is a national protected area located in Wenchuan County in China. Established in 1963 with an initial size of about , the reserve was fur ...

. Both facilities are managed by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. The

Vienna Zoo Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

-born male panda Fu Long (b. 2007) was relocated to Bifengxia in November, 2009. On February 5, 2010, Bifengxia became home to Tai Shan, who was born at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Later that year, Su Lin and

Zhen Zhen Zhen Zhen () is a female giant panda born on August 3, 2007, to Bai Yun and Gao Gao at the San Diego Zoo. Her name means "Precious". She is Bai Yun's fourth cub, and Gao Gao's third. Zhen Zhen has one half sibling, Hua Mei, and four full siblin ...

from the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...

were also moved here. In 2008, there were 13 baby pandas surviving in the Bifengxia Base. On February 12, 2009, the base held a simple ceremony for these small ones as they attended the panda kindergarten. The giant pandas, who temporarily lived in the Bifengxia Base, returned to the Wolong National Nature Reserve after its restoration that took between two or three years.

References

Giant pandas Nature conservation in China Zoos in China Buildings and structures in Sichuan 2004 establishments in Chengdu {{zoo-stub

See also

References