Chen Chen
辰辰
5 years old
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Chen Chen (辰辰) is a male giant panda born June 10, 2021 at Chongqing Zoo. Twin brother of Xing Xing, he is the son of Ma...
View profile YA
Panda archive
Ya Jun
雅郡
alive female
Born September 6, 2015
Ya Jun (雅郡, studbook #984), nicknamed "Little Mud Monkey," is a female giant panda born September 6, 2015 at the Ya'an Bifengxia Base. Daughter of Jun Zhu and half-sister of San Diego's Xin Bao, she is known for her "air sitting" eating pose — balancing on thin branches while eating bamboo. She has lived at Ningbo Wildlife Park since 2018.
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Start with the profile, then expand into the archive around this panda
This page brings together the core facts, timeline, family graph, media, place journey, and related reading for Ya Jun.
Profile snapshot
Quick facts
Birth date
September 6, 2015
Birth place
China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda
Current location
China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda
Status
Alive
Studbook
#984Archive activity
1 update · 0 media
Narrative
Life story
Start with a concise summary, then continue into the full narrative record for Ya Jun.
Short version
Ya Jun (雅郡, studbook #984), nicknamed "Little Mud Monkey," is a female giant panda born September 6, 2015 at the Ya'an Bifengxia Base. Daughter of Jun Zhu and half-sister of San Diego's Xin Bao, she is known for her "air sitting" eating pose — balancing on thin branches while eating bamboo. She has lived at Ningbo Wildlife Park since 2018.
Basic Profile
Ya Jun (Chinese: 雅郡, nicknamed Xiao Yao Er/小幺儿 and Xiao Ni Hou/小泥猴), studbook number 984, is a female giant panda born on September 6, 2015 at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas (CCRCGP) Ya’an Bifengxia Base. Her mother is Jun Zhu (郡主) and her father is Jin Ke (津柯, studbook 743).
She shares her birthday with her mother. Her siblings include Yang Hua (阳花), Meng Meng (梦梦), Zhi Zhi (志志), and Xin Bao (鑫宝) — who traveled to the San Diego Zoo in 2024.
The Air Sitter
Ya Jun is famous for her “air sitting” (空气坐) eating posture — she perches on impossibly thin branches, balancing with apparent effortlessness while calmly eating bamboo. She appears to be sitting on nothing. Her sister A Jie (阿杰) at the same zoo adopted this posture after watching Ya Jun.
Little Mud Monkey
As a cub, Ya Jun loved rolling in mud until her white fur was completely brown, earning her the nickname “Little Mud Monkey.” She also has a habit of climbing dangerously high trees — she once fell from 10+ meters but was miraculously unharmed.
Life Journey
On April 19, 2018, Ya Jun and her companion A Jie (阿杰) moved to Ningbo Youngor Zoo (now Ningbo Wildlife Park). Their joint birthday celebrations have become annual events at the zoo.
Evidence
Life timeline
Key updates and milestone events tied to Ya Jun.
Knowledge graph
Family and network
See the core family graph first, then continue through related pandas and archive themes.
Father Half-siblings (grouped)
Ya Jun has
6 half-siblings.
The majority share the same father, Jin Ke
, indicating a highly prolific paternal lineage.
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View profileWhy these profiles appear here
1
Chen Chen
Same father (SB 743)
2
Cheng Jiu
Same father (SB 743)
3
Hua Bao
Same father (SB 743)
4
Jin Ke
Father: Jin Ke (SB 743)
Gallery
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Connected archive
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This is the next layer around the profile: place journey, current geography, reading context, and nearby panda records.
Place journey
Current location
China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda
Dujiangyan, China
Ya Jun is currently linked to China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
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Trust
Sources and references
Information on this page is compiled from conservation institutions, official panda records, media archives, and the wider PandaCommon research workflow.
Primary source types
- Conservation institution records
- Official panda databases
- Research publications and archive reporting
External links
No external reference links are attached yet.
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