By: Chase Liu

On July 21st, 2022, giant male panda An An, who spent most of his life in Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, died after experiencing health-related issues. He was 35 years old – 105 in human years.

“An An, you have brought so many good memories to everyone,” said Chief Executive of Hong Kong John Lee.

Pandas usually live for around 20-25 years. It is unlikely for a panda to live over 30 years old. Another panda who lived exceptionally long was Xin Xing, who lived in the Chongqing Zoo in China and was famous for eating 70 pounds of food daily. Xin Xing died at age 38.

An An arrived at the park in 1999 at 12 years old with his companion, a female panda named Jia Jia. They were a gift from Beijing to Hong Kong. In 2015, Guinness World Records listed her as the oldest panda in a zoo at age 37. She died a year later, in 2016.

An An was struggling to maintain a good diet in his last days of life. Instead of his usual diet of 30 pounds of bamboo daily, he began consuming non-solid foods, only liquids, and electrolytes. An An also struggled to do physical activities such as walking and climbing trees.

Because of this, Chinese veterinarians decided to put him down. An An died from euthanasia, which the park announced on their Facebook page.

As news spread on the internet about the loss of An An, people started creating tributes for one of the oldest giant pandas in the world. The chairman of Ocean Park, Paulo Pong, said, “[An An]brought us fond memories with numerous heartwarming moments. His cleverness and playfulness will be dearly missed.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/world/asia/an-an-giant-panda-dead.html