Jia Yuan

Basic Profile

Jia Yuan (Chinese: 家园, meaning “Homeland”), studbook number 1119, is a wild-born female giant panda. When she was rescued in November 2017, experts estimated her age at 16–20 years, placing her birth around the late 1990s. Her exact origins in the wilds of Sichuan’s mountains are unknown.

The Rescue: November 30, 2017

Discovery

On the evening of November 30, 2017, a villager named Li Wanfang in Hongya County’s Wawushan Township, Meishan, Sichuan, found a giant panda collapsed on his property. The animal was in shocking condition — skin stretched tight over bone, barely moving. He immediately contacted the authorities.

A Village Mobilizes

Experts from the Sichuan Wildlife Protection Center rushed to the remote mountain location. After assessing the steep terrain, they decided sedation was the only safe option. Once the panda was under anesthesia, local villagers stepped in. Working together, they carefully lifted her onto a bedsheet and carried her into Li Wanfang’s home for emergency treatment.

By 12:10 AM on December 1, she had been moved to the village party secretary’s house, where the rescue team conducted a thorough examination. The findings were grim:

• Both front paws disabled — non-functional, likely from an old injury
• Healed fractures of the 4th and 5th ribs
• Severe dehydration and extreme malnutrition
• No subcutaneous fat — a sign of prolonged starvation
• Weak, irregular heartbeat with arrhythmia
• Tick infestation across her body
• Distended abdomen, weak bowel sounds

She was deemed too weak for immediate transport. The team administered emergency care on-site for several hours, stabilizing her enough to survive the journey.

Arrival at Chengdu

Later that morning, she was transferred to the Chengdu Research Base’s Luojiaqou Rescue Center. There, she received intensive veterinary care. Due to her permanently disabled front paws, which made foraging and self-feeding impossible, she could not be released back to the wild. She became a permanent resident of the Chengdu Research Base.

Life at the Base

Jia Yuan’s name — 家园 (Homeland) — reflects her journey from the wild to a safe home. Against all expectations given her age and physical condition, she adapted well to captive life.

Motherhood at Last

On July 10, 2022, in what keepers describe as a quiet miracle, Jia Yuan gave birth to a healthy female cub. The cub was named Jia Xin (家欣), sharing the “Jia” (home) character with her mother. Jia Xin quickly became an internet favorite, known for her habit of hanging motionless from tree branches — earning her the nickname “the hanging-on-tree baby” (挂树小熊).

Jia Yuan’s story — from a dying wild panda carried on a bedsheet by villagers, to a mother raising a healthy cub — stands as one of the most remarkable rescue stories in the Chengdu Base’s history.