HONG KONG (AP) – The world’s oldest-ever panda in captivity was euthanized Sunday at the Hong Kong theme park where she lived because her health had deteriorated.
Ocean Park said in a statement that a veterinarian euthanized 38-year-old Jia Jia to prevent further suffering and for ethical reasons.
Guinness World Records recognized Jia Jia as the oldest giant panda to live in captivity. The average lifespan for a panda in the wild is 18 to 20 years, while in captivity it’s 30 years, according to Guinness.
Born in the wild, Jia Jia was taken to live at a wildlife reserve’s breeding center in central China’s Sichuan province in 1980, when she was around 2 years old.
She and another panda, An An, were given to Hong Kong as a gift from Beijing in 1999, on the second anniversary of the city’s handover from Britain to China.