Ya Xiang

Ya Xiang is a female giant panda born on 2024-01-01 at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. She is listed in the international giant panda studbook as individual number 1405, and remains alive as of 2024. She is the offspring of Ya Ya and Le Le. Both of her parents are giant pandas that returned to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda after a long-term loan to the Memphis Zoo in the United States. Currently living at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong Nature Reserve, she participates in the center’s captive breeding and research program for giant pandas. The program supports the global species recovery effort for Ailuropoda melanoleuca, the scientific name for the giant panda. As a young captive-born giant panda, Ya Xiang displays typical foraging and climbing behaviors common to the species. Giant pandas like her are global symbols of wildlife conservation, and draw consistent public attention to habitat protection efforts in China’s Sichuan province. Her birth contributes to the genetic diversity of the global captive giant panda population.