Tuesday, July 28, 2015

  Oldest panda living in captivity: Giant panda breaks Guinness World Records record (VIDEO)

HONG KONG, China -- Jia Jia, a giant panda living at an amusement park in Hong Kong, celebrated her 37th birthday on Tuesday and, along with it, broke two Guinness World Records; Jia Jia became the oldest giant panda ever living in captivity and the oldest giant panda currently living in captivity, according to the World Record Academy .

  Photo: Giant panda Jia Jia eats bamboo next to her birthday cake made with ice and vegetables at Ocean Park in Hong Kong, as she celebrates her 37-year-old birthday. Photo: Kin Cheung / AP ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness World Records' record for the largest collection of stamps featuring pandas belongs to Edo Rajh & Iva Rajh (both Croatia), consisting of 1,966 different WWF stamps, in Zagreb, Croatia, as of 2 April 2012.

  Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the largest collection of panda-related items; it belongs to Edo Rajh and Iva Rajh (both Croatia), consisting of 1,966 different WWF stamps, in Zagreb, Croatia, as of 2 April 2012.

    In human years, Jia Jiawould be more than 100 years old. The average life expectancy for a giant panda is 25 years.

     CNN reports that a Guinness World Records representative was on hand at Ocean Park to congratulate Jia Jia.

     Jia Jia was recognized as holding two Guinness World Records, the oldest ever and the oldest living giant panda. Her mate, An An, also marked a birthday, his 29th.

    Jia Jia was born in the wild in Sichuan, China, in 1978 and was given to Hong Kong in 1999 to mark the semi-autonomous city's handover by Britain two years earlier.

    Jia Jia has had six babies and four are still living.

   The previous Guinness World records record was held by a male panda called Du Du, who was also caught in the wild and died in July 1999 aged 36 in a zoo in China's Hubei province.

     The park's veterinary service director, Paolo Martelli, says typical panda life expectancy is about 20 years and only eight of about 400 living in captivity today are older than 30. So, he says, "it's quite exceptional to reach such an old age for a panda".

      Jia Jia's age equals about 110 for humans. She suffers high blood pressure and arthritic pain, though her health is stable.


    Related world records:  
Oldest living animal: 178-year-old tortoise

Smallest Dinosaur: 'Ashdown Maniraptoran' Fossil

Largest Fossil Spider: 165-million-year-old fossil

Smallest Reptile: Brookesia micro sets world record (Photos)

Smallest frog: Paedophryne amanuensis sets world record (Video)

Heaviest insect: Giant Weta sets world record (Video)

Largest snake living in captivity: 25-feet long Medusa (Video)