Back home. Yuan Meng, the first baby panda born in France in August 2017, will travel to China on July 4, the ZooParc de Beauval told AFP on Thursday. Now a young adult, the star panda will settle this summer at the Giant Panda Research and Reproduction Center in Chengdu (China), “to breed with an unrelated female,” said zoo CEO Rodolphe Delord. .
The one whose name means “fulfillment of a dream” in Chinese, will take up residence “in the great parks” of Sichuan, “where his parents come from”. “He will not be released into the wild, but his children may be reintroduced,” said Rodolphe Delord. “There is now enough genetic diversity for reintroduction,” he observed.
A month before his departure, Yuan Meng, whose godmother is Brigitte Macron, will be placed in quarantine. On July 4, a month before celebrating its sixth birthday, the two-tone mammal will then head for Frankfurt airport (Germany) in an air-conditioned truck. A trainer and a veterinarian from Beauval will accompany him to Chengdu.
“There is a lot of emotion”
Yuan Meng was originally supposed to join China at the age of three or four, but his stay was extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The young male will thus free up space for his younger sisters, the twins Huanlili and Yuandudu, born on August 2, 2021 and who now weigh 63 and 67 kg respectively, according to Beauval.
“There is a lot of emotion. For us, it is an event, but it is the logical continuation. What matters to us is the conservation of the species, ”responded Rodolphe Delord. “He should be gone by now. Promiscuity with his father is not good. He’s an adult male now. »
On August 4, 2017, the female Huan Huan had given birth to twins, recalls the ZooParc in a press release. The first “fragile” died “a few hours later despite the care provided”. The second, Yuan Meng, “more lively and vigorous”, is “today, 5 years and 9 months old”. He is now approaching 123 kg. True stars of Beauval, his parents Yuan Zi and Huan Huan, on loan since 2012 by the Chinese authorities, recently saw their stay extended until 2027.