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Panda baby named in Zoo ceremony

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November 10, 2005

After tallying more than 70,000 votes, San Diego Zoo officials announced the name chosen by panda devotees: Su Lin (sue-lynn).

Su Lin was one of five names presented to the public through an online naming poll that was available only through www.sandiegozoo.org, receiving 44 percent of the vote. The five names were submitted by the Zoo’s Giant Panda Team and approved by the People’s Republic of China for the female giant panda cub born in San Diego August 2 to Bai Yun, the Zoo’s adult female, and Gao Gao, the adult male.

The name means "a little bit of something very cute" in Chinese, but also has historic significance. Don Lindburg, Ph.D., San Diego Zoo Giant Panda Team leader, submitted the name to help call attention to the history of the giant panda in the United States. "I am pleased with the decision of the community in choosing the name 'Su Lin' for our latest panda cub," Dr. Lindburg said. "Between the arrival of the first Su Lin in our country in 1936 and the birth of the second one in 2005, history has not been kind to pandas, with only about 1,600 individuals left in the world today. But like the two cubs born here before her, the new Su Lin dramatizes the importance of working to make the world more secure for wild populations."

In 1936, Ruth Harkness brought the first giant panda to the United States. The male cub—incorrectly believed to be a female at first—was named Su Lin after the sister-in-law of Quentin Young, a wildlife explorer who assisted Mrs. Harkness in her journey through China.

Su Lin is the third giant panda cub born at the San Diego Zoo. The first cub was Hua Mei, whose name means "China/USA," a female panda that is now in the giant panda conservation program in China. Hua Mei was born in 1999 and was the first cub to be born in the United States to survive into adulthood. In 2003, the Zoo’s second cub, Mei Sheng, was born. HIs name means "born in the USA." All three cubs have been born to Bai Yun, but Gao Gao is the sire of Mei Sheng and Su Lin only.

Su Lin has not yet left the den and is not visible to the public except through Panda Cam. The date of her public debut is still unknown. Her mother Bai Yun will decide when the cub is ready to venture out of the den. San Diego Zoo guests are able to observe Gao Gao and Mei Sheng at the Giant Panda Research Station.