Documenting 766 giant pandas across 91 institutions worldwide — tracking studbook lineages, conservation transfers, and breeding records within the global ex-situ conservation network.
Featured pandas
成和花
Cheng Hehua (Hua Hua, 花花), nicknamed "Fruit Lai" (果赖) because she responds to this Sichuan dialect call, is China's top internet celebrity panda born July 4, 2020 at Chengdu Base. Known for her round face, short limbs, and calm demeanor, she became an overnight sensation in 2023 when videos of her being outwitted by other pandas went viral. Appointed Honorary Director of Chengdu Culture and Tourism Bureau in 2024, she draws record crowds to the Chengdu Base.
得得
De De (得得), nicknamed "Xi Lao" (细佬 / Little Brother), is a male giant panda born August 15, 2024 at Ocean Park Hong Kong — one of the first giant pandas ever born in Hong Kong. He is the twin brother of Ga Ga (加加) and the son of Le Le and Ying Ying. His name "得得" means "to gain," paired with his sister's name "加加" (to add), forming the phrase "加加得得" — add and gain, symbolizing continuous growth and blessings. By May 2025, at approximately 9 months old, he moved with his mother and sister to an expanded habitat.
福宝
Fu Bao (福宝), studbook #1284, is a female giant panda born on July 20, 2020 at Everland Resort in South Korea — the first panda born in Korea. Her parents are Ai Bao (爱宝/华妮) and Le Bao (乐宝/园欣). Named "Lucky Treasure" through a public vote, she became one of the world's most famous pandas, with dedicated fan communities, bestselling photo books, and even a Samsung Galaxy Buds case inspired by her. She returned to China on April 3, 2024, and now resides at the Wolong Shenshuping Base.
加加
Ga Ga (加加), affectionately known as "Jia Jie" (家姐 / Big Sister), is a female giant panda born August 15, 2024 at Ocean Park Hong Kong — one of the first giant pandas ever born in Hong Kong. Daughter of Le Le and Ying Ying, she and her twin brother De De made history as the first "Hong Kong-made" pandas. Named through a public competition with over 35,700 entries, her name "加加" means "cheering on" and symbolizes encouragement and hope. By May 2025, at approximately 9 months old, she weighed over 21 kg and began exploring her expanded habitat.
乐乐
Le Le (乐乐), studbook #606, is a male giant panda born on August 8, 2005, at the Wolong China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas. He arrived at Ocean Park Hong Kong on April 26, 2007, as part of the commemorative pair of giant pandas gifted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China. After 13 years of failed mating attempts with his partner Ying Ying (盈盈), Le Le successfully natural mated in March 2024, resulting in the birth of twin cubs Jia Jia (加加) and De De (得得) on August 15, 2024—the first giant pandas born in Hong Kong. At approximately 20 years old, Le Le continues his role as a conservation ambassador in Hong Kong.
妹珠
Mei Zhu (妹珠), nicknamed "Mei Zhu" (妹猪), is a female giant panda born June 18, 2024 at Guangzhou Chimelong Safari Park. She is the first offspring of the world's only surviving giant panda triplets — her mother Meng Meng is the eldest of "Meng Shuai Ku" (萌帅酷). The only surviving 2024 cub of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, she has been exhibited since birth and is known as the most "wild" panda at Chimelong. Her keeper Chen Liangjin (陈良金), affectionately called "Daliang Grandpa" (大良外公), has become a social media celebrity through livestreams of their daily interactions.
萌兰
Meng Lan, nicknamed "West Straight Gate Third Prince" (西直门三太子), is one of China's most famous giant pandas, born July 4, 2015 at Chengdu Base. Known for his round face, high intelligence, and playful escapes from his enclosure at Beijing Zoo, he has amassed hundreds of millions of online views. Son of overseas-born Mei Lan and "Beijing Zoo Oscar actress" Meng Meng, he survived juvenile osteomyelitis in 2017 before moving to Beijing where he became a national phenomenon.
梦想
Meng Xiang (梦想), studbook #1214, is a male giant panda born on September 1, 2019, at Berlin Zoo. He and his twin brother Meng Yuan (梦圆) were the first giant pandas born in Germany. Their parents Meng Meng (梦梦, studbook 868) and Jiao Qing (娇庆, studbook 824) arrived in Berlin in 2017 as part of a 15-year Sino-German conservation agreement. In December 2023, Meng Xiang returned to China and currently resides at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
Start here
The archive works best when each entry point has a clear job: profiles for individual pandas, the timeline for chronology, the library for context, and places for geographic browsing.
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nature
Every captive giant panda on Earth is recorded in a single global database — the International Studbook — which tracks lineage, calculates genetic relatedness, and determines each year's breeding recommendations. This article explains how studbook managers use population genetics software to maintain 90% genetic diversity across 700 captive pandas, making the panda breeding program one of the most mathematically sophisticated conservation efforts in history.
nature
In 2009, an international team led by BGI-Shenzhen published the first complete giant panda genome — a 2.4 billion base-pair blueprint that revealed why pandas lost the taste for meat, how they digest bamboo with bacterial help, and why their genetic diversity offers hope for survival. This article follows the science from Jing Jing's blood sample to today's conservation genomics, covering TAS1R1 umami pseudogenization, the Illumina sequencing revolution, and what the genome means for the species' future.
May 27, 2026
nature
The bamboo forests protected for pandas store an estimated 2-3 billion tons of carbon across the Giant Panda National Park's 27,000 square kilometers — an ecosystem service worth $200-750 million annually in carbon sequestration alone. This article examines how panda conservation doubles as climate action, why bamboo forests rival tropical rainforests in per-hectare carbon storage, and how China's carbon market is creating new economic incentives for habitat protection.
May 27, 2026
nature
Every captive giant panda on Earth has a unique studbook number that maps directly to its parents, grandparents, offspring, and location history. This guide teaches you how to use the PandaCommon database to trace any panda's lineage — from Fu Bao back to Pan Pan in three generations — and explains what the studbook numbers reveal about genetic relationships, breeding history, and the hidden family connections that link pandas across continents.
May 27, 2026
Why read here
The library connects profiles and updates to bigger ideas: biology, conservation systems, diplomacy, culture, and beginner-friendly explainers.
Recent archive activity
Mexico held a grand celebration for Xin Xin's 36th birthday with painting exhibitions, dragon and lion dances, and a special cake ceremony. Thousands of visitors lined up to see her.
Ji Nian celebrated his 7th birthday at Beijing Zoo with a specially prepared cake, his first birthday at his new home.
Rio, Indonesia's first giant panda cub, is in excellent health at six months old. Taman Safari Indonesia confirms all developmental indicators are stable under continuous veterinary monitoring.
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Top places
Geography
Browse zoos, breeding centers, and other places connected to giant pandas, then move from geography into country pages and local timelines.
Reference reading
Use the library to add context to the data layer: biology, conservation, panda culture, and beginner-friendly explainers all sit alongside the archive.
Becoming a panda keeper is statistically harder than gaining admission to many elite universities — annual acceptance rates at the Chengdu Research Base are below 5%. This article explores the education, physical demands, emotional resilience, and daily realities of panda keeping, featuring profiles of keepers who describe their work as 'the most difficult, least glamorous, and most meaningful job in animal care.'
Nestled in the misty mountains above Ya'an, Sichuan, the Bifengxia Panda Base is the quiet epicenter of the global panda diaspora — the place every overseas-born panda first encounters when it returns to China. With its cool climate, abundant bamboo, and specialized quarantine facilities, Bifengxia has processed every major panda homecoming of the modern era, from Tai Shan in 2010 to Fu Bao in 2024.
Every panda conservation statistic — '1,864 wild pandas,' '16.8% population increase,' '11.8% habitat expansion' — traces back to a single source: China's four national giant panda surveys. Conducted over 40 years, these are the most comprehensive wildlife censuses ever undertaken for a single species. This article explains how they work, why they take years, and how methodology evolved from measuring bamboo bite-marks to extracting DNA from droppings.
About the project
Pandacommon combines structured records, historical updates, and long-form reference writing so the site can function as both a browsing experience and a durable source of panda knowledge.