Oldest giant male panda on earth dies in Hong Kong
Wildlife lovers have a reason to mourn, now that the oldest giant male panda on earth has died today in Hong Kong. The panda, named An An, was 35 years old when he passed away today at Ocean Park. The giant panda believed to have lived the longest was a female panda who died at 38 years old in 2016.
Pandas live for 14-20 years on average, and they are tough to breed in captivity. Ocean Park’s chairman Paulo Pong said that An An’s very long life showed the park’s commitment to giant pandas. The park is also home to two other giant pandas, one female, and one male.
An An first arrived at Ocean Park 23 years ago, given to the park by the Chinese central government. Pong said An An would be dearly missed for his “cleverness and playfulness.” Ocean Park posted about the loss of An An on its Facebook today.
The park said that in human years, An An died at 105 years old. The post added that An An was “an indispensable member of our family,” and had built strong bonds with both locals and tourists.
Last year, following decades of work to save the much-loved animals, Chinese officials announced that giant pandas were no longer endangered. This was after their population in the wild went up to 1,800. The pandas are notoriously difficult to breed because females can only become pregnant for 24 to 72 hours each year.
China’s efforts to recover some of its other endangered species had also been slowly paying off. Other species making a comeback included Siberian tigers, Amur leopards, and Asian elephants.
