Wu Gang

Wu Gang is a male giant panda born on 1999-01-01 in the wild of Sichuan Province, China. He was captured and transferred into human care as a juvenile, and entered the official studbook of the Chinese giant panda conservation program with the studbook number 488. He is the offspring of unknown wild-born giant panda parents, as his birth occurred in unmonitored wild habitat before his rescue. No formal records of his parentage exist in the giant panda studbook maintained by conservation authorities. Currently living at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, he participates in the center’s captive population management and ex-situ conservation programs for the species. He has contributed to the center’s research on giant panda behavior and reproductive biology. As an older wild-born giant panda, Wu Gang displays more natural foraging and movement behaviors than many captive-born individuals. He is one of the early residents of the China Conservation and Research Center, and supports public education about giant panda conservation efforts that have brought the species from endangered to vulnerable status on the IUCN Red List.