Sihun

Basic Profile

Sihun (四海, studbook #902) is a female giant panda born on July 26, 2019 at CCRCGP in Wolong, Sichuan. Her name means “Four Seas,” symbolizing the vast world.

Journey to Qatar

In 2022, Sihun and her male companion Jing Jing were selected for a historic 15-year conservation partnership between China and Qatar. They arrived at the newly built Doha Panda House, which features climate-controlled indoor habitats to replicate the cool, temperate conditions of their native Sichuan mountain forests. Sihun made history as the first giant panda to reside in the Middle East.

Life at Doha Panda House

At Doha Panda House, Sihun receives a specialized diet of fresh bamboo flown in from China, supplemented with fruits, vegetables, and nutritional biscuits. The facility maintains strict temperature and humidity controls to ensure her comfort in Qatar’s desert climate. She serves as an ambassador for her species, helping raise awareness about giant panda conservation across the Middle East.

Conservation Significance

Sihun’s presence in Qatar represents a milestone in international panda diplomacy and conservation cooperation. She is part of the global ex-situ population managed to ensure the species’ long-term survival.

Sihun, known in Chinese as 四海, is a female giant panda born on July 26, 2019, at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. She is formally registered in the global giant panda studbook under number 902, making her a fully documented individual in the international coordinated population management system for the species. Her birth was part of the center’s planned captive breeding program, which prioritizes maintaining genetic diversity to support the long-term health of the global captive giant panda population. Sihun is the offspring of a male panda with studbook number 749 and female panda Mei Sheng, whose studbook number is 567; both parents are participants in the China Conservation and Research Center’s managed breeding initiative.

Sihun remained at the China Conservation and Research Center for the first year of her life, before being transferred on her first birthday, July 26, 2020, to the Al Khor Panda House (also referred to as Doha Panda House) in Qatar. The transfer was part of a long-term collaborative conservation partnership between Chinese and Qatari wildlife authorities, intended to support cross-cultural knowledge sharing around endangered species protection. In her current residence at Al Khor Panda House, Sihun exhibits typical giant panda behavioral patterns, including devoting the majority of her daytime hours to foraging for bamboo and resting.

Sihun plays a core role in the Al Khor Panda House’s public education programming, which reaches both local visitors and international tourists to Qatar. Regular guided sessions at the facility share information about giant panda biology, habitat requirements, and the history of Sino-Qatari collaborative efforts to support endangered species conservation. As the first giant panda to reside in the Middle East, her presence has introduced regional audiences to the species and expanded global public engagement with giant panda protection efforts. She also serves as a visible ambassador for the success of decades of coordinated global conservation work, which led to the giant panda’s reclassification from Endangered to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2016.