Shuan Shuan

Basic Profile

Shuan Shuan (双双, meaning “double”) was a female giant panda born on June 15, 1987 at Mexico City’s Chapultepec Zoo. She was one of a pair of twins — her brother was named Ping Ping — and her name commemorated this “double” birth. She was the seventh and final cub of the founding panda pair in Mexico.

At 35 years old, Shuan Shuan was one of the longest-living giant pandas in the world, far exceeding the typical 15-year lifespan of wild pandas. She belonged outright to Mexico, making her one of the very few giant pandas outside China that are not owned by the Chinese government.

Family

Shuan Shuan’s parents were Ying Ying (英英, sb165) and Pe Pe (贝贝, sb167), gifted to Mexico by China in 1975 as part of early panda diplomacy following the re-establishment of Sino-Mexican diplomatic relations. The pair produced eight cubs at Chapultepec Zoo, making it one of the most successful panda breeding programs outside China:

• Xen Li (1980) — first panda born outside China, did not survive
• Tohui (托惠, 1981–1993) — survived to adulthood, mother of Xin Xin
• Liang Liang (1983)
• Xiu Hua (1985) — twin (unnamed sibling did not survive)
• Ping Ping and Shuan Shuan (1987) — twins
• An additional unnamed cub

None of Shuan Shuan’s siblings, nor Shuan Shuan herself, produced surviving offspring apart from Tohui, whose daughter Xin Xin (born 1990, sired by Chia Chia from London Zoo) remains the last giant panda in Mexico.

Life Journey

Birth at Chapultepec (1987)

Shuan Shuan was born during a period when Chapultepec Zoo, under the guidance of Chinese advisors, had mastered giant panda breeding. The zoo’s high altitude (2,300 meters / 7,500 feet), similar to the pandas’ native Sichuan habitat, was credited as a contributing factor. Her twin brother Ping Ping did not survive to adulthood.

Life at Chapultepec Zoo

Shuan Shuan spent most of her life at Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, where she became a beloved figure for generations of Mexican visitors. She was described by keepers as having an excellent appetite, being active and playful throughout her life, though like all pandas she could spend hours resting on her platform.

Loan to Guadalajara Zoo (2010–2011)

At age 22, Shuan Shuan was temporarily loaned to Guadalajara Zoo in hopes that a change of environment might encourage breeding. However, she never produced cubs. She returned to Chapultepec in 2011 and lived there for the remainder of her life.

Final Years

As Shuan Shuan entered her thirties, she became one of the oldest living giant pandas in the world, part of a select group of eight pandas over 30 years of age globally. On her 35th birthday in June 2022, the zoo held a celebration with a giant cake made of dates and apples (her favorite foods), and hundreds of visitors attended. She passed away shortly after, in July 2022, having lived more than double the average lifespan of wild giant pandas.

Significance

Shuan Shuan was a living symbol of the decades-long China-Mexico panda program and one of the longest-lived pandas ever recorded outside China. Her status as Mexican-owned property made her legally unique among the global panda population. Together with her niece Xin Xin, she represented the last generation of the Pe Pe–Ying Ying lineage — a direct line from the first pandas sent to Latin America in 1975.