Place archive

Al Khor Panda House

Al Khor Panda House is a specialized giant panda conservation facility located in Al Khor, Qatar, opened in 2022 to coincide with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 as a landmark project of Sino-Qatari cultural and environmental cooperation. Operated under the governance of Qatar Museums, the facility is home to *Ailuropoda melanoleuca* individuals Si Hai and Jing Jing, a breeding pair loaned from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding under a 15-year international conservation agreement. The design of its exhibits draws on ecological data from the Min Mountains of Sichuan, China, the core native habitat of wild giant pandas, to replicate the temperate bamboo forest conditions the species requires, while adapting to Qatar’s hot desert climate with full temperature and humidity control systems. The facility partners with the Qatar University Environmental Science Center and the IUCN Species Survival Commission Bear Specialist Group to conduct long-term research on giant panda adaptive physiology in arid regions, contributing to global conservation strategies for the species currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and included in Appendix I of CITES. Its educational programs collaborate with the Qatar Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to deliver public outreach on giant panda conservation, bamboo ecosystem protection, and global biodiversity preservation, with