Fan Xing

Fan Xing, a female giant panda with the global studbook number 1257, was born on May 1, 2020 at Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, the Netherlands. She is the offspring of male giant panda Wu Wen (studbook number 890) and female giant panda Qi Zai (studbook number 891), both of whom were loaned to the Dutch institution from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) as part of a long-term international collaborative giant panda breeding program. As a cub born through this cross-border partnership, Fan Xing was formally recognized as a legally protected individual under both international endangered species regulations and Chinese wildlife conservation frameworks from birth.

On her first birthday, May 1, 2021, Fan Xing was transferred to the CCRCGP’s facility in Sichuan Province, China, in line with the standard terms of global giant panda loan agreements, which specify that offspring of pandas loaned to overseas institutions remain the property of China and are to be repatriated once they reach appropriate age for integration into the species’ core breeding population. Since her arrival at the CCRCGP, she has been integrated into the center’s managed breeding program, which is designed to maintain and enhance the genetic diversity of the global captive giant panda population, a key pillar of the species’ long-term conservation and recovery strategy.

As a young adult panda, Fan Xing exhibits all typical species-specific behaviors, including specialized bamboo foraging patterns and regular tree climbing activity. Her high-profile birth in the Netherlands and subsequent repatriation to China drew widespread international media and public attention, raising global awareness of the collective efforts required to protect vulnerable giant panda populations. Her inclusion in the CCRCGP’s breeding program adds valuable genetic diversity to the global captive panda gene pool, supporting ongoing efforts to build a self-sustaining captive population that can eventually contribute to wild population reinforcement efforts if needed.