Yang Guang

Basic Profile

Yang Guang (阳光, “sunshine”), studbook number 564, is a male giant panda born on August 14, 2003 at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (Hetaoping Wild Training Base) in Sichuan, China. His father is the prolific breeding male Pan Pan (盼盼, studbook 308) and his mother is Long Gu (龙古, also known as Quan Quan 泉泉).

Weighing 126 kg at the time of his departure for the UK in 2011, Yang Guang was described as a handsome, robust, and confident panda with a lively personality.

Family

Yang Guang’s full siblings include brothers Fu Fu (福福), Xiang Xiang (祥祥), and Tong Tong (彤彤), and sisters Xi Mei (喜妹) and Xin Yue (新月). All are offspring of Pan Pan and Long Gu.

Life Journey

After his birth at Hetaoping, Yang Guang was sent on several domestic loans around China: to Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou (January 31, 2007), back to Hetaoping (March 28, 2008), to Handan Zoo (November 4, 2008), to the Bifengxia Base (March 12, 2010), to Qiqihar Longsha Park (May 20, 2010), and back to Hetaoping (October 2010).

On December 4, 2011, Yang Guang and Tian Tian arrived at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland as part of a 10-year Sino-UK conservation partnership (later extended by two years due to the pandemic). Their arrival was met with great fanfare, with bagpipers playing and crowds lining the streets. In their first year, they generated over £5 million in zoo revenue and broke attendance records. A local composer even created a “Panda Suite” in their honor.

During his time in Edinburgh, Yang Guang underwent sterilization surgery due to a tumor, preventing any natural breeding success. Despite multiple artificial insemination attempts with Tian Tian, no cubs were produced.

On December 5, 2023, after 12 years in the UK, Yang Guang and Tian Tian returned to China aboard a China Southern Boeing 777 cargo flight. The flight departed Edinburgh on December 4 at 13:39 local time and arrived at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport at 06:50 Beijing time, after a 9-hour 11-minute journey. Yang Guang was then transferred to the Ya’an Bifengxia Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda for a month-long quarantine.