Animals

Pairi Daiza Foundation

TICKETS & RESERVATIONS

The symbol of endangered animal species

The WWF’s emblematic animal, the Giant Panda has become the symbol of “Endangered” animals. There are now only about 1,600 of them left, spread over 64 nature reserves in central China, in the mountains of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. And there are very few of them in zoos.

Panda géant
A vegetarian bear

Days spent... eating!

In morphological terms, the panda is a bear but it is essentially vegetarian, eating practically nothing but bamboo, from which its ursine digestive tract enables it to extract only a part of the nutritional value. It is therefore obliged to eat almost all the time and it is unable to store enough reserves of fat to allow it to hibernate during the winter. Its mountain habitat is very rainy and rather cold : the Giant Pandas of Pairi Daiza, which have thick fur, therefore appreciate our Belgian weather. Endowed with powerful claws, pandas easily climb trees. They have a sixth finger which is a bony growth on their wrist, opposite the other fingers, which enables them to hold bamboo stems. In view of their very low reproduction rate and the threats to their habitat, the species is classified as “Vulnerable”.

In Pairi Daiza

The only three giant pandas born in Belgium

In Pairi Daiza, you can see five giant pandas:

  • Xing Hui (male – 22/07/2009) Arrived in Pairi Daiza in February 2014.
  • Hao Hao (female – 07/07/2009) Arrived in Pairi Daiza in February 2014.
  • Tian Bao (male – 02/06/2016) Born in Pairi Daiza, he is the baby of Hao Hao and Xing Hui.
  • Bao Di (male - 08/08/2019) Born in Pairi Daiza, he is the baby of Hao Hao and Xing Hui.
  • Bao Mei (female - 08/08/2019) Born in Pairi Daiza, she is the baby of Hao Hao and Xing Hui.
Panda géant
Identification profile

A “vulnerable” species

  • Name: Giant Panda
  • Latin name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca
  • Origin: China
  • IUCN status: Vulnerable
  • Cites: Appendix I
Pairi Daiza Foundation

Working to assist the breeding of giant pandas

Jella Wauters heads up the research programme entitled “Metabolomics in the Giant Panda: unraveling the reproductive biology” at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ghent, for the Pairi Daiza Foundation. This study aims to develop a test that will enable scientists anywhere in the world to predict the period when the female panda is in heat (a few weeks before it starts) based on hormonal markers present in the animal's urine.

The fertility period of a female giant panda occurs only once a year, and only lasts one to three days. While fertilisation may take place during this short period of time, the rest of the pregnancy remains a huge mystery. The exact term of the pregnancy, miscarriages and/or the reasons for the absorption of the foetus by the reproductive system in the female giant panda are still not known.

The hormonal markers, which are central to the work of Jella Wauters, will also be able to indicate the precise moment of ovulation and to enable the progress of one of the most mysterious pregnancies in the animal kingdom to be monitored - ultimately, and significantly, increasing the chances of reproduction, not only in zoos and breeding centres in China, but also in nature.

En savoir plus

Robin

Keeper
Every day is different and you never get bored looking after these extraordinary animals. And this pleasure is increased tenfold when we can be present at the birth of a baby panda, as was the case with Tian Bao in June 2016!

Sponsor the Giant Pandas

Sponsorship amounts are exclusively for the Pairi Daiza Foundation for projects for the conservation and protection of threatened species.

Je parraine les Pandas géants