Qi Zai
 Qi Zai in November 2015 | |
| Species | Qinling panda |
|---|---|
| Sex | Male |
| Born | c. 2009 Qinling, Shaanxi, China |
| Known for | World's only known living brown-and-white giant panda in captivity |
| Residence | Foping Panda Valley (Qinling Giant Panda Research Center), Shaanxi, China |
| Parent | Unknown |
| Offspring | Rongrong |
Qi Zai (Chinese: 七仔; pinyin: Qī Zǎi; lit. 'The Seventh Son') is a male brown-and-white giant panda and the only known brown giant panda living in captivity.[1][2][3] He belongs to the Qinling panda population, native to the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi, China. Due to his unusual brown fur replacing the typical black markings, he is often nicknamed the "Chocolate Panda".[1]
Rescue and early life
Qi Zai was born around 2009 in the wild in the Qinling. On 1 November 2009, he was found weak, dehydrated and abandoned in the Foping National Nature Reserve and taken in for emergency care. He was estimated to be about two months old.[1][4] His name means "the seventh son" in Chinese.[5]
Because of his unusual brown-and-white coloration, which earned him the nickname "Chocolate Panda", rescuers were initially unsure of his identity, but specialists later confirmed that he was a rare brown giant panda,[1] which have been spotted in the Qinling five times from 1985 to 2015.[6] He became the second brown giant panda known to be kept in captivity after the female panda Dandan.[7]
Captivity
After his rescue, Qi Zai was transferred to the Shaanxi Rare Wildlife Rescue and Research Center, where he was raised under professional care. In 2014, he was moved to Foping Panda Valley (Qinling Giant Panda Research Center) in Shaanxi Province.[7]
Keepers reported that he had a calm and gentle personality and was especially fond of bamboo and carrots. During his younger years, he was noted to have been bullied by other black-and-white pandas because of his unusual appearance.[4] In an interview, one of his caretakers described Qi Zai as "slower" than the rest of his pandas, who would quickly respond to their names being called.[5]
As he matured, Qi Zai grew to over 100 kilograms (220 lb), eating approximately 20 kilograms (44 lb) of bamboo daily,[8][9] and became one of the most recognizable pandas in China.[5]
Breeding
In 2020, Qi Zai successfully completed natural mating with a female panda named An An, marking the first successful natural mating recorded for the world's only captive brown panda. Researchers expressed interest in whether his rare brown coloration, believed to be linked to uncommon genetic traits, could be passed to future offspring.[2]
Coloration and genetics
The genetic basis of Qi Zai's coloration was reported in 2024 by a team led by Wei Fuwen and Hu Yibo of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.[3][7] Sequencing Qi Zai's genome alongside those of other brown and black-and-white pandas, the researchers identified a homozygous 25-base-pair deletion in the Bace2 gene as the most likely cause of the brown-and-white coat.[3] The team confirmed the effect with a CRISPR-Cas9 knockout mouse model, in which mice carrying the mutation developed lighter fur.[7][10]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Brown is unique". China Daily. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- 1 2 "World's only captive brown giant panda succeeds in natural mating". Xinhua. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Guan, Dengfeng; Sun, Shuyan; Song, Lingyun; Zhao, Pengpeng; Nie, Yonggang; Huang, Xin; Zhou, Wenliang; Yan, Li; Lei, Yinghu; Hu, Yibo; Wei, Fuwen (2024). "Taking a color photo: A homozygous 25-bp deletion in Bace2 may cause brown-and-white coat color in giant pandas". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 121 (11) e2317430121. Bibcode:2024PNAS..12117430G. doi:10.1073/pnas.2317430121. PMC 10945837. PMID 38437540.
- 1 2 "World's Only Brown Panda Who Was Bullied as a Cub Finally Gets Adopted". NextShark. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "'He is slower but cuter!' Meet the 'world's only BROWN panda' Qizai as his keeper reveals funny details of the bear's life". MAMUL. 20 October 2016.
- ↑ "秦岭发现棕白色大熊猫 30年仅发现5次(图)" [Brown-white giant pandas have been found in the Qinling Mountains only 5 times in 30 years (picture)]. China News Service (in Chinese). 19 August 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 "Chinese scientists find gene responsible for giant panda Qizai's rare brown-and-white fur". People's Daily. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
- ↑ "World's only brown panda, abandoned by its mother, gets ready for mating". The Straits Times.
- ↑ Marsden, Harriet (17 October 2016). "This is the world's only brown panda". Indy100.
- ↑ "Mystery Of World's Only Captive Brown And White Panda Solved With Genetics". IFLScience. 5 March 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
