An An, the world’s oldest captive panda, dies
The animal died at the age of 35, which in human age is equivalent to 105 years. In recent weeks his health had worsened.
The world’s oldest male giant panda in captivity, An An, died this Thursday at the age of 35, which in human years would be equivalent to 105. Ocean Park, in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, communicated the sad news of his death. After An An’s health deteriorated in recent weeks, the animal was finally euthanized.
“Unfortunately, but as expected, An An’s condition reached an end on July 21, 2022″, Ocean Park said in a statement on its website. The animal’s final hours saw its health worsen, with the inability to eat solid food and drinking only water and liquids with electrolytes.
The panda was also inactive and the park workers had to give it medical attention to try to alleviate its discomfort . “An An has brought us fond memories with numerous heartwarming moments. We will greatly miss his intelligence and his playful nature”, said the president of the park, Paulo Pong.
An An: a life in captivity
For most of his life, An An lived in the Hong Kong theme park, where he first arrived in 1999. He didn’t arrive alone, but accompanied by his panda partner Jia Jia, being a gift from China as part of the panda diplomacy practiced by the Asian government, which sees its 50th anniversary this year, in 2022. Jia Jia passed away in 2016, at the age of 38. To date, she is the oldest female panda ever kept in captivity in history.