The oldest known giant male panda in the world, Pan Pan, was greeted by well wishers in China during his 30th birthday on Monday.
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“Happy birthday to you; Happy birthday to you…”
Staff at the center threw a birthday party for him and even made him a cake with ice and carrots.
Always dignified, he circumnavigated his cake, appeared to make a wish, plumped himself heavily on the ground and began to gobble up the delicacies.
Pan Pan is not the oldest panda in the world however.
The research center’s spokesperson Wei Rongping said they are convinced that Pan Pan holds the title of oldest giant male panda.
Panpan sired around a quarter of all the pandas living in captivity in the world today, and has been dubbed “hero dad”. Wei said that they will do their best to keep the panda healthy and alive for as long as they can.
The panda recently turned 30 years old, which is an equivalent of 100 years in human years.
“Sleeping after eating and having no activity, that is not good for their health”. We don’t ignore aging or ailing giant pandas.
Wild pandas are only found in Sichuan, south west China, and a considered a national treasure. According to China’s latest giant panda census in 2014, there were 1,864 giant pandas in the wild, an increase of 17 percent over the past decade.
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Giant pandas are one of the world’s most endangered species and the average life of the captive-bred panda is about 20 years-old.
