The story of the panda Baiyun

Female giant panda Baiyun, with a pedigree number of 371, was born on September 7, 1991, at the Hetaoping Wild Training Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Her father is the renowned giant panda Panpan, and her mother is Dongdong. Baiyun has a twin sister named Ludi and younger siblings—Dadi, Ximeng, Dingding, and Dandan. Baiyun's birth marked the end of a decade-long lull in successful artificial breeding of giant pandas in Wolong Reserve. As the first offspring of this generation to survive and enter the breeding program in Wolong, she holds great significance.

On September 10, 1996, Baiyun embarked on a new journey with male giant panda Shishi to live at the San Diego Zoo in the United States. During her stay in the US, Baiyun had mating experiences with both Shishi and later with "Gaogao." She successfully bred six litters of six cubs, all of which survived. Among them, Huamei, the first giant panda born through artificial insemination in the US and successfully survived, returned to China in 2004, becoming the first giant panda born overseas to return to her native country. Baiyun's other cubs, including Meisheng, Sulin, Zhenzhen, Yunzi, and the naturally conceived Xiaoliwu, all grew up healthy and happy.

However, on March 13, 2011, an accident occurred at the San Diego Zoo where Baiyun accidentally bit a zookeeper, but fortunately, the zookeeper was unharmed. This incident sparked public attention to the territorial awareness and behavioral characteristics of giant pandas.

On May 16, 2019, Baiyun returned to her motherland with her six-year-old cub Xiaoliwu, ending her 23-year-long exile in the United States.