So, he says, “it’s quite exceptional to reach such an old age for a panda”.
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Hong Kong’s giant panda, Jia Jia, celebrated her 37th birthday in style on Tuesday as she was awarded two Guinness World Record titles. Her mate, An An, also marked a birthday, his 29th.
Jia Jia’s age equals about 110 for humans.
Jia Jia and An An were gifted to Hong Kong by China’s central government in 1999, and have been living in the care of the Ocean Park since then.
Born in 1978, Jia Jia was given to Hong Kong in 1999 to celebrate the second anniversary of Britain handing over control of the city to China. “Jia Jia takes regular medication for various conditions such as high blood pressure and arthritic pain”, said Suzanne Gendron, Executive Director of Zoological Operations and Education of Ocean Park.
“She is sleeping more, so is doing everything less. This gives her a strong sense of security”, she said.
Although the exact birth dates of Du Du and Jia Jia are unknown because they were born in the wild, Guinness said that based on the evidence, they’ve concluded that Jia Jia had claimed the title by a few months.
Jia Jia’s long life is particularly impressive as the average lifespan of giant pandas is only 18-20 years, and 30 in captivity, Guinness World Records said.
There are fewer than 2,000 pandas now left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, as their habitats have been ravaged by development. Pandas rely on bamboo and eat nearly nothing else.
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This means breeding pandas in captivity is essential to their survival.
