Mei Sheng
Male giant panda (born 2003)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mei Sheng (Chinese: 美生; pinyin: Měi shēng; lit. 'Beautiful Life or Born in the USA'; born August 19, 2003)[1] is a male giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo[2] to Bai Yun and Gao Gao.[3] He is the firstborn cub of the two pandas,[4] and the half-brother of Hua Mei and the brother of Su Lin, Zhen Zhen, Yun Zi, and Xiao Liwu.[5] The Chinese government had sent Bai Yun to the San Diego Zoo in 1996 and she was shipped back 23 years later as part of a panda diplomacy established in 1987.[6]
August 19, 2003
San Diego Zoo, California, United States
| Other name | Chinese: 美生 |
|---|---|
| Species | Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | Mei Sheng August 19, 2003 San Diego Zoo, California, United States |
| Nationality | American-born (returned to China) |
| Occupation | Conservation animal |
| Known for | Second giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo; offspring of Bai Yun and Gao Gao |
| Owner | San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance / China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda |
| Residence | Bifengxia Panda Base, Ya'an, Sichuan, China |
| Parents | Gao Gao (father) and Bai Yun (mother) |
| Named after | Literal translation: "Beautiful Life" or "Born in the USA" |
Mei Sheng was sent to China on November 5, 2007. He was reported to have arrived safely at the Wolong National Nature Reserve three days later,[7] following a break at Chengdu on November 7.[3] After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Mei Sheng was relocated to Bifengxia Panda Base, just outside Ya'an, where, in May 2009, he successfully bred with a female giant panda, Ying Ying.[8] Ying Ying's female cub, born August 26, and named Shu Qin, was sired by another male panda, Lu Lu.[9]
Mei Sheng was one of ten pandas sent from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to Nanjing on August 28, 2019, and he was settled in Tangshan.[10] On August 21, 2023, Mei Sheng was sent to the Wolong National Nature Reserve in order to "retire".[11] By the end of 2024, all giant pandas were expected to return from the United States to China, thereby ending the panda diplomacy,[12] which lasted between the United States and China since 1972.[13] Despite worsening China–United States relations, the Chinese government was still willing to send giant pandas to the United States in 2024.[14]