Place archive
The Qinling Panda Research Center (秦岭大熊猫研究中心) is located in Louguantai, Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province, at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains. It is the only research and breeding facility in China dedicated exclusively to the Qinling subspecies of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis), which is distinguished from the Sichuan subspecies by its smaller skull, rounder face, and distinctive brown-and-white coat color variant. The center's origins date to 1987 with the establishment of the Shaanxi Rare Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Research Center. In 2018, it was designated as China's fourth major panda breeding base (following Wolong CCRCGP, Chengdu Base, and Beijing Zoo), and in 2019 it was formally established as the Qinling Panda Research Center under the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry. The center is home to Qi Zai (七仔), the world's only captive brown giant panda, discovered as a wild orphan in 2009. The center also operates the Qinling Four Treasures Science Park, which opened to the public in 2021 and features the "four treasures" of the Qinling Mountains: giant pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys, crested ibises, and takins.
How this page is organized
This page gathers the residents linked to Qinling Panda Research Center, the key moments recorded here, nearby institutions, and the articles that add context.
Resident archive
4 pandas recorded
The pandas currently recorded at this institution.
锦心
Jin Xin (锦心, #672) is a female giant panda born on August 6, 2007, at the Bifengxia Base of the China Conservation and R...
荣荣
Rong Rong (荣荣), formerly known as Jin Xiao Qi (锦小七, "Little Seven of the Golden Series"), is a male giant panda born on ...
正正
Zheng Zheng (正正, #834) is a female giant panda born on July 11, 2012, at the Bifengxia Base of the China Conservation an...
珠珠
Zhu Zhu (珠珠, #509) is a female giant panda born on August 6, 2000, at the Hetaoping Wild Training Base in Shaanxi Provin...
Pandas whose birth place is recorded as Qinling Panda Research Center.
荣荣
Rong Rong (荣荣), formerly known as Jin Xiao Qi (锦小七, "Little Seven of the Golden Series"), is a male giant panda born on ...
Recorded moments
On National Day 2022, Ai Hin gave birth to a 200g cub at the Qinling Panda Research Center. The cub grew strong under her attentive care, reaching 4.3kg within weeks.
Read updateIn the library
Qi Zai is the world's only captive brown giant panda — a chocolate-colored anomaly discovered as a two-month-old cub in the Qinling Mountains in 2009. This article explores the recessive genetic mutation behind his unique coloration, the distinct Qinling subspecies he belongs to, and what brown pandas reveal about coat color genetics, habitat adaptation, and the hidden diversity within the giant panda population.
The giant panda exists in two distinct forms across two mountain ranges: the larger, darker Sichuan subspecies in the Minshan and Qionglai ranges, and the rounder-faced, browner Qinling subspecies isolated for 10,000 years in Shaanxi. This comparative ecology article maps the habitat differences — elevation, climate, bamboo, snowfall — that have driven subtle but significant divergence between the two panda populations.
The Giant Panda National Park, established in 2021, spans 27,000 square kilometers across Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. This article maps the six mountain ranges — Minshan, Qionglai, Daxiangling, Xiaoxiangling, Liangshan, and Qinling — that form the panda's last wild strongholds, exploring how each range's distinct microclimate, bamboo diversity, and elevation profile shapes the pandas that live there.
World map
Coordinates: 34.0500 N, 108.2800 E
Archive notes
The Qinling Panda Research Center (秦岭大熊猫研究中心) is located in Louguantai, Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province, at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains. It is the only research and breeding facility in China dedicated exclusively to the Qinling subspecies of giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis), which is distinguished from the Sichuan subspecies by its smaller skull, rounder face, and distinctive brown-and-white coat color variant.
The center's origins date to 1987 with the establishment of the Shaanxi Rare Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Research Center. In 2018, it was designated as China's fourth major panda breeding base (following Wolong CCRCGP, Chengdu Base, and Beijing Zoo), and in 2019 it was formally established as the Qinling Panda Research Center under the Shaanxi Academy of Forestry. The center is home to Qi Zai (七仔), the world's only captive brown giant panda, discovered as a wild orphan in 2009. The center also operates the Qinling Four Treasures Science Park, which opened to the public in 2021 and features the "four treasures" of the Qinling Mountains: giant pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys, crested ibises, and takins.