World’s oldest Panda Jia Jia euthanized in Hong Kong

Jia Jia, the world’s oldest giant panda in captivity, died Sunday at a theme park in Hong Kong. She was 38.

Ocean Park theme park, where she had lived since 1999, euthanized the animal after she had lost her appetite and was unable to walk. She also was diagnosed with high blood pressure, arthritis and cataracts in both eyes.

Jia Jia, whose name means “good,” would be about 114 years old in human years. Pandas normally live to around 20 years of age in the wild and 25 in captivity.

Born in 1978 in the wild in Sichuan, China, Jia Jia was captured when she was about 2-years-old.

She was given to Hong Kong in 1999, along with An An, as part of the semi-autonomous city’s handover by Britain two years earlier. Jia Jia turned 38 in July.

An An is the world’s second oldest male giant panda in captivity at 30.

Ocean Park has two other pandas:Ying Ying and Le Le, who are both 11 years old.

In a statement obtained by BBC Chinese, a Hong Kong government spokesman thanked the park for caring for Jia Jia and that it was “saddened” by the news.

[Source:-UPI]