Lun Lun () is a female

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. ...

who lived at Zoo Atlanta in

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. The panda, now , was born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in

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 ...

on August 25, 1997. Her original

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

, Hua Hua, was changed to Lun Lun by her sponsor, the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

ese rock star Su Huilun. Lun Lun has given birth to Mei Lan (male 2006), Xi Lan (male 2008), Po (female 2010), twins Mei Lun and Mei Huan (female 2013) and twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun (female 2016). In 2024, Lun Lun and the zoo’s three other pandas returned to China.

Offspring

Mei Lan in 2006

On September 6, 2006, at 4:51 p.m EDT, Lun Lun and mate Yang Yang became the parents of a female cub, named Mei Lan, who made his debut in early 2007. After Mei Lan had been returned to China, officials realized that Mei Lan was actually a male. It is heavily rumored by Chinese panda bloggers and super fans that Mei Lan is the father of numerous cubs, including some of the most famous in China: JiXiao (female 2019), twins ChengFeng and ChengLang (female 2019), twins HeHua and HeYe (female 2020) and Beijing Zoo celebrity Meng Lan (male 2015). Meng Lan gained even more popularity when he briefly escaped his yard at the Beijing Zoo in 2021.

Xi Lan and Po

On August 30, 2008, at 10:10pm EDT she gave birth to a second cub, a male, named Xi Lan. On November 3, 2010, at 5:39 a.m. EDT, Lun Lun gave birth to her third cub, Po, believed to be a male.

Mei Lun and Mei Huan in 2013

On July 15, 2013, Lun Lun gave birth to her first set of twins, Mei Lun and Mei Huan, both initially identified as male. In December, preliminary exams on Xi Lan and Po as they prepared to return to Chengdu indicated that Po might have been misidentified as male, and the zoo ran DNA tests on several of the bears. On December 13, 2013, Zoo Atlanta reported that Po, Mei Lun, and Mei Huan are all female.

Xi Lun and Ya Lun in 2016

Lun Lun gave birth to her second set of twins on September 3, 2016, in Atlanta Zoo. They have been named Xi Lun ( zh, 喜倫) and Ya Lun ( zh, 雅倫).

References

External links

Zoo Atlanta
{{Famous giant pandas Individual giant pandas 1997 animal births