World's oldest male giant panda dies at 35

(Video from 2021) Historic birth of giant pandas in China 1:00

(CNN) ––

An An, the world's oldest male giant panda in captivity, died Thursday at the age of 35, after suffering from health problems.

The panda was euthanized to prevent further suffering, Hong Kong's Ocean Park said in a statement.

He will be missed for his "intelligence and joy," park president Paulo Pong said.

• Shuan Shuan, the oldest giant panda in Mexico, died at the age of 35 at the Chapultepec Zoo

An An arrived at the theme park 23 years ago as a gift from the Chinese central government, alongside Jia Jia, a female who was believed to be the world's oldest giant panda before her death at age 38 in 2016.

The panda couple has been visited by millions of tourists and school children over the years.

And many of them posted their memories of An An on social media this Thursday with photos and videos.

• They tried to get these pandas to mate for 10 years.

  They finally did when the zoo closed due to coronavirus

The average lifespan of a panda in the wild is 14 to 20 years, but they can live much longer in captivity, according to the wildlife conservation organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

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Pong noted that An An's survival beyond the average life expectancy demonstrates the theme park's continued commitment to giant pandas.

The park has two other giant pandas left, the female Ying Ying and the male Le Le, also gifts from the Chinese government in 2007.

The fight to save the giant pandas

China has been trying to increase the population of its iconic animals for half a century, creating extensive panda reserves on several mountain ranges in an effort to save them from extinction.

• Giant pandas no longer endangered, thanks to conservation efforts, says China

Giant pandas are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity.

However, after years of decline, their numbers in the wild have increased in recent years.

In 2017, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the status of the species from "endangered" to "vulnerable", after its population grew almost 17% during the decade. previous.

That decision was also made by the Chinese government last year after the population rose to 1,800.

• With this curious method they are managing to save the panda bears

In China, pandas are considered an umbrella species, which means experts believe measures to protect them will help defend other species, as well as the broader ecosystem.

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