Yuan Jing

Basic Profile

Yuan Jing (Chinese: 元晶, meaning “First Crystal Star”) was a female giant panda born on September 8, 1978 at the Beijing Zoo’s Shisanling Breeding Facility in Beijing, China. She was the first giant panda in the world to be conceived through artificial insemination.

Her mother was Juan Juan (娟娟), a wild giant panda from Baoxing County, Sichuan. Her fathers were two wild males — Bao Bao (宝宝) from Baoxing and Lou Lou (楼楼) from Wen County, Gansu — whose semen was used in successive artificial insemination attempts.

Historic Birth

On September 8, 1978, at approximately 6:00 PM, Yuan Jing was born weighing 125 grams. A dedicated keeper was the sole human observer of the birth, which took place in the easternmost enclosure of the Shisanling facility’s breeding house. The successful AI procedure represented a major breakthrough in panda conservation technology.

The research achievement was awarded the National Science and Technology Progress Third Class Prize (国家科技进步三等奖) in 1978.

Scientific Significance

Yuan Jing’s successful birth opened a new path for giant panda reproduction. The artificial insemination technique developed at Beijing Zoo was subsequently adopted by:

• China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas
• Ueno Zoo, Japan
• Madrid Zoo, Spain
• Chengdu Zoo

This technology became one of the most important tools for maintaining genetic diversity in the captive panda population.

Death

Yuan Jing passed away in December 2003 at approximately 25 years of age in Baoxing, Sichuan.