Huan Huan

Basic Profile

Huan Huan (Chinese: 欢欢), studbook number 723, is a female giant panda born on August 10, 2008, at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Her mother is Qi Zhen (奇珍, studbook 490) and her father is Lin Lin (琳琳, studbook 455), who has no separate entry in this archive. Her littermate is her twin sister Bei Bei (贝贝, studbook 722), also missing from this archive; her other siblings include the older brothers Zhen Da (珍大) and Wu Yi (五一), the younger sisters Zhen Qiao (珍巧) and Zhen Zhen (真真), and the younger brothers Zhen Hao (珍好) and Qiao Qiao (巧巧).

She was selected alongside male giant panda Yuan Zi (园子/圆仔) for a landmark Sino-French conservation partnership.

Journey to France

On January 15, 2012, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi departed China aboard a FedEx charter flight, arriving at ZooParc de Beauval in Saint-Aignan, France. For their arrival the zoo invested €5 million in a 2.5-hectare Chinese-style enclosure with double-layer insulated glass, artificial misting systems and a temperature-controlled nursery, and opened a dedicated bamboo plantation costing about €35,000 a year to grow their food.

The pair were formally introduced to the public in February 2012 after a one-month quarantine period. At Beauval they lived in a private area of roughly 300 m² with climbing structures in a bio-inspired design; keepers provided 20 kg of fresh bamboo a day, supplemented seasonally with apples and carrots.

Their arrival dramatically boosted the zoo’s annual visitor numbers, from 600,000 (2012) to 1.35 million (2016).

Offspring

Huan Huan has successfully mothered three cubs at Beauval Zoo:

• Yuan Meng (圆梦), male, born August 4, 2017 — the first giant panda born in France. He gained international attention for his distinctive curly fur, caused by excessive licking from Huan Huan. French First Lady Brigitte Macron attended his naming ceremony, and President Macron spent his 40th birthday at the zoo with him in December 2017. Yuan Meng returned to China on July 26, 2023.

• Huan Li Li (欢黎黎), female, born August 2, 2021 (twin, 149 g at birth; 1.14 kg at one month). Her name combines “欢” from her mother Huan Huan with “黎黎” from Paris (巴黎).

• Yuan Du Du (圆嘟嘟), female, born August 2, 2021 (twin, 128 g at birth; 1.09 kg at one month). Her name combines “圆” from her father Yuan Zi with “嘟嘟” for Chengdu (成都).

The twins’ naming ceremony on November 18, 2021 was attended by French football star Kylian Mbappé and Chinese Olympic diving champion Zhang Jiaqi.

Huan Huan and Yuan Zi’s stay in France, originally a ten-year loan due to end in 2022, was extended to 2027 following Sino-French negotiations in April 2023.

Return to China

On September 22, 2025, Beauval Zoo announced that Huan Huan, after thirteen years in France, would return to China that November. She had been diagnosed with kidney impairment, cutting short the extended loan.

On November 26, 2025 at 07:17, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi arrived at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport aboard a charter flight and were transferred to the quarantine facility at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for at least one month of isolation. Their twin daughters Huan Li Li and Yuan Du Du remain at Beauval Zoo under the extended cooperation agreement until 2027.