- Title: CHINA-OLDEST PANDA Guinness World Records crowns world's oldest panda
- Date: 28th July 2015
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (JULY 28, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GIANT PANDA JIA JIA EATING AN ICE CAKE ICE CAKE READING (English): "37 GUINNESS WORLD RECORD" JIA JIA LOOKING AT CROWDS JIA JIA IN HER ENCLOSURE ADJUDICATOR OF GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, BLYTHE RYAN FITZWILLIAM, BEING INTERVIEWED GUINNESS WORLD RECORD BADGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADJUDICATOR OF GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, BLYTHE RYAN FITZWILLIAM, SAYING: "So I was here today to recognize two Guinness World Records titles for Jia Jia. The first being the oldest panda living in captivity and then the second title for the oldest panda ever in captivity. So these records were held previously but in recent years we haven't had anyone who has broken it. The previous record holder for the oldest ever in captivity was actually in 1999. So you can see the difficulties in getting a panda to live even longer. It is really quite difficult. It has taken over 15 years to beat that record." VARIOUS OF OCEAN PARK CHAIRMAN, LEO KUNG, FITZWILLIAM AND HONG KONG CHIEF SECRETARY, CARRIE LAM, HOLDING GUINNESS WORLD RECORD CERTIFICATES STANDING NEXT TO PEOPLE IN PANDA SUITS AUDIENCE WATCHING CEREMONY OCEAN PARK DIRECTORY FOR VETERINARY SERVICE, PAOLO MARTELLI, SPEAKING ON STAGE OCEAN PARK LOGO (SOUNDBITE) (English) OCEAN PARK DIRECTORY FOR VETERINARY SERVICE, PAOLO MARTELLI, SAYING: "Pandas typically, their life expectancy would be around 20 years. So Jia Jia being 37 is obviously well over that limit and it is rare. If you look by numbers only eight animals out of 397 alive now under human care have reached any age beyond 30. So that's a very, very small percentage of the panda population that live to that age. So we can say it's quite exceptional to reach such an old age for a panda." JIA JIA EATING IN HER ENCLOSURE MEDIA FILMING JIA JIA EATING ICE CAKE JIA JIA IN HER ENCLOSURE JIA JIA EATING ICE CAKE
- Embargoed: 12th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA5YLVTGQ0WG9B85X7G7M8N5ZOS
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A female giant panda at a Hong Kong zoo, who is approaching her 37th birthday, broke the Guinness World Record for the oldest panda ever in captivity and the oldest panda living in captivity on Friday (July 28).
Ocean Park zoo said they don't have exact records of her records but believe her birthday is in August.
The Guinness World Records said the previous record was set by another female giant panda Du Du, who, like Jia Jia, was rescued from the wild. She passed away in 1999 before her 37th birthday.
Jia Jia's awards were officially recognised at a ceremony at her home, Ocean Park, presided over by Adjudicator of Guinness World Records, Blythe Ryan Fitzwilliam.
"So I was here today to recognize two Guinness World Records titles for Jia Jia. The first being the oldest panda living in captivity and then the second title for the oldest panda ever in captivity. So these records were held previously but in recent years we haven't had anyone who has broken it. The previous record holder for the oldest ever in captivity was actually in 1999. So you can see the difficulties in getting a panda to live even longer. It is really quite difficult. It has taken over 15 years to beat that record," he said.
The equivalent of 37 in panda years is more than 100 in human years, the zoo said.
Ocean Park's head of veterinary services, Paolo Martelli, said despite the fact Jia Jia was senile, has high blood pressure and suffers from chronic pain she had no life-threatening conditions, and considered her to be in pretty good health for her age.
He added that it was rare for pandas to reach that age.
"Pandas typically, their life expectancy would be around 20 years. So Jia Jia being 37 is obviously well over that limit and it is rare. If you look by numbers only eight animals out of 397 alive now under human care have reached any age beyond 30. So that's a very, very small percentage of the panda population that live to that age. So we can say it's quite exceptional to reach such an old age for a panda," Martelli said.
Jia Jia, who has had six offsprings, was given to Hong Kong by the Chinese Central Government in 1999 along with another panda, to mark the second anniversary of the city's handover from former colonial ruler Britain.
Pandas are endangered because most of their natural habitat has been destroyed for timber, farming and construction, conservation group the World Wildlife Fund said.
A Chinese government survey in 2014 estimated 1,864 pandas that live in the wild, a rise of 17 percent from 2003. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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