An An, the world's oldest male giant panda in captivity, died Thursday at the age of 35 at the Ocean Park theme park in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong (China).
The theme park has announced that the animal, whose age would be equivalent to about 105 years of a human being, has had to be euthanized after its health deteriorated in recent weeks.
"Unfortunately, but as expected, An An's condition came to an end on July 21, 2022," Ocean Park said in a press release.
During the last days, in which the panda refused to eat solid food and only drank water or liquids with electrolytes, he was mostly inactive and the park staff had to provide him with medical attention to alleviate his discomfort.
“An An has brought us fond memories with numerous heartwarming moments.
We will greatly miss his intelligence and his playful nature, ”explained the president of the Ocean Park Corporation, Paulo Pong, in the press release.
An An has lived most of her life at the theme park along with her partner Jia Jia, who passed away at the age of 38 in 2016, making her the oldest female panda in captivity to date.
Both animals were given to Hong Kong by China in 1999, as part of the "panda diplomacy" practiced by the Chinese government and that this 2022 turns 50.
The city belonged to the British Empire for 150 years, but was returned to China in 1997, where it now maintains autonomous status.
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