Jing Jing

Jing Jing is a female giant panda born on 1 January 1990 in the wild of Sichuan, China. She was entered into the international giant panda studbook as individual number 593, and was rescued by wildlife management teams shortly after birth before being transferred to managed care. She is the offspring of two unidentified wild giant pandas native to the Min Mountains, a major giant panda habitat in southwestern China. No records of her parentage exist in captive breeding studbooks maintained by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, as she was born to free-ranging individuals. Currently living at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, she participates in the facility’s public education and captive management programs. The Chengdu Base is one of the world’s leading institutions focused on giant panda conservation and ex-situ breeding. As a wild-born giant panda held in managed care, Jing Jing contributed to research on wild giant panda dietary and behavioral traits, helping researchers refine captive husbandry protocols. She was a popular attraction for domestic and international visitors to Chengdu, raising public awareness of giant panda conservation. Her life also supported studies of wild-captive compatibility for giant panda breeding initiatives.