Yuan Xiao

Yuan Xiao (Chinese name 园欣, studbook number 801) is a male giant panda born on July 28, 2012, at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan, China. Per official breeding records from the Chengdu Research Base, he has maintained consistent good health from birth onward. His parents are Lu Lu and Yong Ba, both members of the managed captive giant panda population overseen by Chinese national conservation authorities. His full lineage is formally recorded in the global giant panda studbook, a centralized database used to coordinate genetic diversity management across the global captive panda population to reduce inbreeding risk and support long-term species viability.

Shortly after his first birthday, on July 28, 2013, Yuan Xiao was transferred to Everland Resort’s Panda World in the Republic of Korea as part of a long-term international cooperative breeding and public education partnership between Chinese wildlife conservation agencies and South Korean institutional partners. He has resided at the facility continuously in the years since, receiving specialized care from a joint team of Chinese and South Korean panda care specialists, with routine health check-ins coordinated with his birth institution in Chengdu.

As a public ambassador for his species, Yuan Xiao draws consistent visitor interest at Everland Resort, where his daily routines are documented and shared as part of the facility’s public education programming. He displays typical wild giant panda foraging behaviors in his managed habitat, spending an average of 12 hours per day consuming locally sourced bamboo and nutritionally balanced prepared panda biscuits, allowing visitors to observe natural panda behavioral patterns first-hand. His presence has been credited with raising regional public awareness of threats facing wild giant pandas, including habitat fragmentation and loss in their native Sichuan range, and a portion of revenue from Everland’s panda experience programming is allocated to in-situ conservation projects supporting wild panda populations in China.