Ming Hin

Basic Profile

Ming Hin (Chinese: 明浜, studbook number 662) is a male giant panda born on December 23, 2006 at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama, Japan. He and his twin sister Ai Hin (爱浜) were the last cubs of Eimei (永明, studbook 390) and Mei Mei (梅梅, studbook 408).

Winter Birth

The twins’ birth was extraordinary: conceived through autumn mating and born in winter — the only successful winter birth from autumn mating in captive panda history. Ming Hin weighed just 84 grams at birth with a body temperature of only 33.2°C, requiring intensive care in an incubator.

Naming

On February 9, 2007, his name was chosen from 7,168 public submissions. “明浜” means “bright future,” symbolizing the wish for him to grow healthily and illuminate the family’s future.

Life Journey

Loss of Mother (2008)

On October 15, 2008, Mei Mei died from acute intestinal obstruction. Ming Hin and Ai Hin were not yet two — keepers devoted extra care to the orphaned twins.

Return to China (2012)

On December 14, 2012, the twins returned to China, settling at the Chengdu Research Base. They debuted to the public on February 26, 2013.

Liuzhou Zoo (2013–present)

On March 28, 2013, Ming Hin was transferred to Liuzhou Zoo in Guangxi alongside Shu Lin (蜀琳). He has remained there ever since, with multiple contract renewals.

In January 2024, he moved into a newly built panda house — 1,500 m² with air conditioning, soundproof glass, climbing structures, and pools.

Personality

Ming Hin is quiet, calm, and steady (沉稳). He weighs about 110 kg with a longer face than his sister. He consumes roughly 60 kg of bamboo daily.

Cultural Impact

Ming Hin has devoted Japanese fans who visit Liuzhou annually for his December 23 birthday. He and Shu Lin are considered Liuzhou’s “treasures of the zoo” (镇园之宝). He is the offspring of father Eimei (also known as Yongming, studbook 384) and mother Meimei (studbook 480), both captive-bred pandas originally from Sichuan, China, who resided at Adventure World as part of a long-term Sino-Japanese giant panda research partnership. Meihin spent the first year of his life at the Japanese facility, where he was monitored closely by zookeepers and conservation researchers to track early developmental milestones for the endangered species.

In December 2007, on his first birthday, Meihin was transferred to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, Sichuan, his species’ native range, as part of the international collaborative agreement governing giant panda loans and captive breeding exchanges. Since his repatriation, he has been an active participant in the center’s captive breeding program, which is dedicated to preserving and expanding genetic diversity across the global captive giant panda population. His genetic lineage, derived from two pandas originally from separate Sichuan breeding lines that were housed outside of China for multiple years, brings valuable genetic variation to the center’s breeding pool, reducing the risk of inbreeding in captive populations.

Meihin’s cross-border birth and repatriation have made him a notable example of successful international collaboration for giant panda conservation, drawing consistent public interest to the shared global efforts to protect the species. He exhibits typical wild-derived foraging behaviors, consuming roughly 15 kilograms of bamboo each day, and regular observations of his feeding, activity, and social interaction patterns provide researchers with consistent data to compare panda behavior across individuals born in and outside of their native range. As of 2024, he remains a permanent resident of the Wolong center, contributing to both research and public outreach initiatives focused on giant panda conservation.