25 Giant Panda Cubs Send 2025 New Year Greetings

On January 23, the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center (referred to as the Panda Center) and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (referred to as the Panda Base) jointly held a special Spring Festival-themed event in Sichuan titled “Auspicious Blessings, Panda Cubs Welcome the New Year.” A total of 25 newborn giant panda cubs from the class of 2024 made their debut in a festive atmosphere, extending New Year greetings to people around the globe through a lively and adorable video appearance.

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To celebrate the first Spring Festival following China’s successful inclusion of the giant panda’s habitat on the World Heritage List, the event highlighted the themes of “Spring Festival,” “intangible cultural heritage,” and “Chinese traditions.” The event, themed as a “Spring Festival Fair,” featured vibrant elements that combined tradition with modernity.

At the Panda Center’s Wolong Shenshuping Base, 13 panda cubs born in 2024 explored an environment filled with iconic Chinese New Year elements, such as candied hawthorn skewers, rice dumplings, sugar paintings, and other traditional foods. The venue was also decorated with paper cuttings, lanterns, and snake-shaped stuffed toys, creating a delightful festive atmosphere for the curious cubs.

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At the Panda Base, 12 panda cubs from the same cohort made their debut in a setting enriched with intangible cultural heritage elements like paper cuttings and folding fans, as well as traditional New Year lanterns and greeting banners.

These 25 cubs appeared together for the first time, showcasing their unique personalities and temperaments. Some were playful and lively, while others seemed a bit shy. This rare collective appearance of panda cubs, combined with elements of Chinese cultural heritage and traditions, symbolizes the harmonious coexistence of pandas and humans and reflects hopes for a better relationship between humanity and nature.

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Since its establishment in November 2023, the National Giant Panda Conservation Center has aimed to build a world-class research platform for giant panda conservation. The Panda Center and Panda Base have worked closely together to promote genetic diversity within the captive panda population while also advancing groundbreaking research. Over the past year, they have conducted more than ten academic exchanges and achieved significant breakthroughs in key research projects, such as “Key Technologies for the Protection of Wild Giant Panda Populations and Habitats in the Giant Panda National Park” and “Key Technologies for Genetic Diversity Conservation of Captive Giant Panda Populations.”

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In addition, they formed a scientific advisory team to provide guidance in five key areas of the Giant Panda National Park, including Wolong and Tangjiahe. Their efforts have played a vital role in supporting the development of the National Panda Park and advancing the overall quality of panda conservation efforts.

The debut of these 25 panda cubs not only brought joy to the Spring Festival celebrations but also reinforced the commitment to preserving this beloved species and promoting a harmonious balance between humans and nature.