Next in the Panda Creek Valley is the Bright Moon Pavilion – there are 2 indoor and 6 outdoor yards like the others in this area so far. There are 6 pandas listed as living here currently, so actually lots of options and it’s the possibility to see all the pandas outside. On my visit it was inside only, and I saw 3 pandas across the two different days. I was very excited to see A Bao 阿宝/Po who was born at Zoo Madrid in 2010 – his twin is De De who I already saw at Panda Valley and loved, unfortunately A Bao/Po was just sleeping right at the back of the space on both days, so I didn’t really get a clear view of him. There were also possibly 3 pandas who I then didn’t see here – I’m not sure which ones unfortunately as there has been a reshuffle of pandas in this house, so currently I don’t see either of the below pandas listed as living here, thus can’t figure out who I missed! A Bao is still listed as living in this house, so he might also be able to be seen =)
Ke Dou 科豆
I saw Ke Dou 科豆 on my first day visiting, he was mostly sleeping but did eventually sit up … and then just sat there! But anyway, always happy to see a panda, no matter what they’re doing^ Ke Dou was born in 2018, so I probably saw him as a cub on my visit that year. He was said to be a very popular cub at the base that year, and there are lots of cute pictures and videos online of him as a youngster. This indoor enclosure is very nice, with a lot of different climbing options and a sizeable pool. Otherwise there really isn’t a lot of information about him available.
Ji Li 绩丽
On my second visit I saw Ji Li 绩丽 in the same yard as Ke Dou. Ji Li was born in 2007 so was almost 17 years old. When I saw her she was very happy right at the top of a climbing frame and didn’t come down at all! Unfortunately the lighting wasn’t great here, so there was a spotlight shining very brightly on her white fur which didn’t work so well for photos, but I still think she looks pretty cute, except in the last photo where I captured her mid-yawn looking a little fierce with all those teeth^ Ji Li has quite a background – in 2012 she was selected to go to Canada for their exchange programme, but when Er Shun (initially identified as a male) was found to be female, there was a re-selection, so Ji Li remained in China. Eventually in 2016 she became a mother for the first time, and has been a successful part of the breeding programme since then, having had 4 cubs between 2016 and 2022. Her 2019-born cubs is Ji Xiao who I saw at Panda Valley, living with Cheng Feng and Cheng Lang. And in 2022 she raised her own cub (Ji Ran) and also looked after an adopted cub, Bei Xia, and these two still live together, plus with Ke Nian, in the Spring Sun Pavilion.
