Mei Mei

Basic Profile

Mei Mei (Chinese: 美美), studbook number 1143, is a female giant panda born on July 25, 2018 at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas (CCRCGP) Hetaoping Base. She weighed just 84 grams at birth.

Her mother is Cao Cao (草草, sb581) — the wild-rescued pioneer of the wild breeding program. Her twin brother is He He (和和).

The Wild Breeding Breakthrough

Mei Mei’s birth was the result of a groundbreaking program called “野外引种” (wild breeding introduction) — releasing captive female pandas into the forest to mate with wild males, introducing new wild genetics into the captive population.

Cao Cao was released into the Wolong forest during estrus, where she successfully mated with a wild male panda. Six months later, she gave birth to Mei Mei and He He — the first surviving twin cubs ever produced through this method.

In 2021, the pair was officially certified by Guinness World Records as the “first captive giant panda wild-breeding introduction surviving twins.”

Life at CCRCGP

Mei Mei is described as more active and playful than her mild-mannered brother. CCRCGP has stated that because of their valuable wild genetics, the twins will remain in captivity and not be released.

On August 23, 2024, Mei Mei gave birth to a son named Xin Qiao (新乔).