Place archive
Wild Habitat (Minshan/Qionglai) is a specialized conservation-focused zoo located at the transitional zone between the Minshan Mountains and Qionglai Mountains in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, an area recognized as the core global distribution range of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), red panda (Ailurus fulgens), and Sichuan takin (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana). Classified as a key supplementary site for the Giant Panda National Park, the facility works closely with the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda to support the IUCN Red List reassessment of vulnerable panda subpopulations, while also implementing CITES Appendix I species protection protocols for all traded endangered fauna in its collection. In addition to its core giant panda breeding and reintroduction programs, the zoo hosts rescue and rehabilitation populations of endemic Sichuan species including the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis), and Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus). It has established a long-term research partnership with Sichuan University College of Life Sciences to study the gut microbiome of captive pandas transitioning to wild bamboo diets,
How this page is organized
This page gathers the residents linked to Wild Habitat (Minshan/Qionglai), the key moments recorded here, nearby institutions, and the articles that add context.
Resident archive
11 pandas recorded
The pandas currently recorded at this institution.
华姣
Hua Jiao (华姣, studbook #866) is a female giant panda born July 6, 2013 at Wolong's rewilding training base to mother Cao...
华妍
Hua Yan (华妍, studbook #888) is a female giant panda born August 14, 2013 at Wolong Hetaoping Base. Daughter of Ye Ye and...
淘淘
Tao Tao (淘淘, studbook #777) was the world's second captive-born panda released into the wild, and the first successfully...
小核桃
Xiao He Tao (小核桃, studbook #1019) is a female giant panda born July 30, 2016 at the Wolong Hetaoping Base. Twin of Chu X...
View profile张梦
Zhang Meng (张梦, studbook #916) is a female giant panda born July 7, 2014 at the Ya'an Bifengxia Base in a semi-wild envi...
View profilePandas whose birth place is recorded as Wild Habitat (Minshan/Qionglai).
明明
Ming Ming is a female giant panda born on September 17, 1991 in the wild of the Qinling Mountains, China. Her studbook n...
View profile坪坪
Ping Ping (坪坪) was a wild female giant panda found on November 17, 2014 in Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve with a seve...
View profilePandas that were once linked to this institution.
八喜
Ba Xi (八喜, studbook #956) is a male giant panda born July 26, 2015, at Wolong Hetaoping Base. Son of Xi Mei (喜妹) and Lu ...
明明
Ming Ming is a female giant panda born on September 17, 1991 in the wild of the Qinling Mountains, China. Her studbook n...
View profile坪坪
Ping Ping (坪坪) was a wild female giant panda found on November 17, 2014 in Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve with a seve...
View profileRecorded moments
Infrared camera footage captured Zhang Xiang in Yehe Nature Reserve, Liangshan — over 30 km from her release point. She had migrated between two isolated wild populations (Gongyihai and Shihuiyao), proving rewilded pandas can connect fragmented habitats.
Read updateCao Cao was released into Wuyipeng forest and successfully mated with a wild male panda, becoming the first captive panda in history to achieve natural mating with a wild individual.
Read updateZhang Meng and Hua Yan were simultaneously released into Liziping Nature Reserve — the world's first dual-female panda rewilding and first summer dual release.
Read updateHua Jiao became the fifth captive-born panda and second female released into the wild. She disappeared into the bamboo forest at Mama Di release point within 15 seconds.
Read updatePing Ping was found severely injured in Tangjiahe Reserve, died 8 days later.
Read updateMonitoring teams found Tao Tao in a recapture cage at Liziping. He weighed 115 kg, was in excellent health, and was re-released the next day.
Read updateZhang Xiang became the first captive-born female giant panda released into the wild. She walked out of her transport cage into the forests of Liziping Nature Reserve, Xiaoxiangling, after 26 months of mother-reared rewilding training.
Read updateTao Tao became the second captive-born panda released into the wild, and the first using the mother-rearing method. State Forestry Administrator Zhao Shucong opened the cage at 10:13 AM.
Read updateXiang Xiang's body was found at the base of a cliff in Wolong. Autopsy confirmed he died from injuries sustained in a fight with wild pandas. His sacrifice reshaped China's rewilding strategy.
Read updateIn the library
A curated global guide to over 50 panda documentaries spanning seven decades, seven thematic categories, and ten countries — from Pan Wenshi's raw Qinling field recordings in the 1990s to the 2024 Korean theatrical release Goodbye, Grandpa. Every film is verified, reviewed, and linked to the real pandas, keepers, and breeding centers behind the footage.
Becoming a panda keeper is statistically harder than gaining admission to many elite universities — annual acceptance rates at the Chengdu Research Base are below 5%. This article explores the education, physical demands, emotional resilience, and daily realities of panda keeping, featuring interviews with keepers who describe their work as 'the most difficult, least glamorous, and most meaningful job in animal care.'
Nestled in the misty mountains above Ya'an, Sichuan, the Bifengxia Panda Base is the quiet epicenter of the global panda diaspora — the place every overseas-born panda first encounters when it returns to China. With its cool climate, abundant bamboo, and specialized quarantine facilities, Bifengxia has processed every major panda homecoming of the modern era, from Tai Shan in 2010 to Fu Bao in 2024.
World map
Coordinates: 30.0000 N, 103.0000 E
Archive notes
Wild Habitat (Minshan/Qionglai) is a specialized conservation-focused zoo located at the transitional zone between the Minshan Mountains and Qionglai Mountains in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, an area recognized as the core global distribution range of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), red panda (Ailurus fulgens), and Sichuan takin (Budorcas taxicolor tibetana). Classified as a key supplementary site for the Giant Panda National Park, the facility works closely with the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda to support the IUCN Red List reassessment of vulnerable panda subpopulations, while also implementing CITES Appendix I species protection protocols for all traded endangered fauna in its collection. In addition to its core giant panda breeding and reintroduction programs, the zoo hosts rescue and rehabilitation populations of endemic Sichuan species including the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis), and Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus). It has established a long-term research partnership with Sichuan University College of Life Sciences to study the gut microbiome of captive pandas transitioning to wild bamboo diets,