Gao Gao the Panda

Gao Gao is a giant panda, a big, fluffy bear with black and white fur! He was born in China but came to live at the San Diego Zoo in 2003. Imagine a furry friend traveling all the way from one country to another! He lived there for many years, making lots of friends, before returning to China in 2018. He's a very famous panda!

Giant pandas are mostly vegetarians, which means they eat plants! Their favorite food is bamboo. They munch on it all day long. Gao Gao, like other pandas, would have eaten lots and lots of bamboo to get enough energy. It's like eating your favorite snack, but all day long! Pandas have strong jaws to help them chew tough bamboo.

Gao Gao is a dad! He has five baby pandas that were born while he was in captivity. This is super important because giant pandas are rare. Having baby pandas helps make sure there will be more pandas in the future. It’s like having a big family to keep the panda species going strong!

Even though Gao Gao is a strong panda, he had a little health issue. In 2013, doctors found he had a heart murmur, which means his heart made a funny sound. Then, in 2014, one of his testicles had to be removed to keep him healthy. It’s good that the zoo and his caretakers looked after him so well!