If converted into the age of humans, "An An" is already 105 years old, and is a veritable "centen-year-old panda". It is said to be the longest-lived male giant panda under the care of humans in the world.

This morning, giant panda "An'an" passed away in Hong Kong Ocean Park at the age of 35. If converted into the age of humans, "An An" is already 105 years old, and is a veritable "centen-year-old panda". It is said to be the longest-lived male giant panda under the care of humans in the world.

With its cute and cute image, Giant Panda has many fans at home and abroad, and is a veritable "China's top star". Because giant pandas like to roll back and forth, Chinese netizens gave them a nickname called "Gonggu".

Not only Chinese netizens like "Gonggui", they also have a large number of "fans" abroad. Many countries hope to receive gifts or rent pandas from China so that citizens can see the true appearance of "a mysterious cute beast from the East" without going abroad.

Giant Pandas can understand the "three languages"

According to media reports, the health status of giant panda "An'an" has gradually deteriorated in the past few weeks. Although they are working hard to treat it, because "An'an" has reached the age of "100" and has suffered from senile diseases such as hypertension and arthritis, the health status of "An'an" has still deteriorated sharply in recent days. After careful study and decision by the veterinarians of the Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the veterinarians of the Marine Park and the expert team of the China Giant Panda Protection Research Center, they reluctantly agreed to let "An An" receive euthanasia to save it from pain.

1999 To celebrate the second anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to , the central government gave a pair of giant pandas in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. On March 11 of that year, the 20-year-old giant panda " Jiajia " and the 12-year-old giant panda "An An" set off from the Wolong Panda Protection Base in Sichuan and took a special plane to settle in Hong Kong Ocean Park.

20 years, "An'an" and "Jia Jia" have grown up under the care of Hong Kong citizens, and have also brought countless laughter to Hong Kong citizens. In 2016, the 38-year-old female giant panda "Jia Jia" passed away in Hong Kong Ocean Park due to a sharp decline in health. Before his death, "Jia Jia" had set two Guinness World Records, becoming "the longest-lived captive giant panda to date" and "the longest-lived living captive giant panda".

Because "An'an" and "Jiajia" are 8 years apart, they have not been able to successfully reproduce the next generation. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return, the central government gave Hong Kong's second pair of giant pandas - "Lele" and "Yingying" born in 2005. Lele and Yingying successfully mated naturally for the first time in 2020, but unfortunately, there has not been good news about "adding children".

Can giant pandas adapt to the local environment from Sichuan to Hong Kong? According to media reports, the two little guys "Lele" and "Yingying" gained 10 kilograms within two months after arriving in Hong Kong. The breeder also introduced that the four giant pandas quickly adapted to the "Chinese and British mixed" context in Hong Kong. The breeder will call their names in Mandarin , let them "down" (down) and "go" (past) in English, and let them climb onto the wooden rack in Cantonese "wooden rack".

In addition to Hong Kong, giant pandas can also be seen in zoos in Macau and Taiwan. On April 30, 2015, the two giant pandas donated by the central government to come to Macau, "Kaikai" and "Xinxin". On June 26, 2016, "Kaikai" and "Xinxin" gave birth to twin brothers. On December 23, 2008, the mainland donated the Taiwanese giant panda "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" to arrive at the Taipei Muzha Zoo in Taiwan. The "little couple" have given birth to two daughters, " Yuanzai " and "Yuanbao".

Nixon visited China and received a "Panda Gift"

The cute giant panda is not only a national treasure of China, but also an envoy to promote friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries, and a bridge and bond to enhance the friendship between the people of the world. The story of the United States and the giant pandas dates back 50 years ago.

In 1972, then-US President Nixon and the First Lady paid a historic visit to China.Lu Peixin, an old diplomat who has worked for for more than 20 years in the Concierge Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recalled: "At that time, Mrs. Nixon looked around with panda cigarettes . Premier Zhou asked her, do you like it? Mrs. Nixon replied: I don't smoke, but I like pandas. Can I take this box of cigarettes? Premier Zhou said, of course, you can take away panda cigarettes, and our Chinese government will also give you a pair of real giant pandas."

At the beginning, Mrs. Nixon didn't believe it and thought the translation was wrong, until Premier Zhou repeated it again, it was indeed the case. She was very surprised and pointed to the panda on the cigarette box and said to her husband Nixon: "Hey, Richard, Premier Zhou Enlai said to give us two giant pandas! Real giant pandas!"

On April 26, 1972, China's national treasure giant pandas " Xingxing " and " Lingling " were packed in a green wooden box and arrived at the National Zoo Museum in Washington, USA by a special plane. Mrs. Nixon personally attended the unveiling ceremony of the giant panda hall. The first day of the public display attracted 20,000 people to queue up to visit. "Xingxing" and "Lingling" later lived in National Zoo for more than 20 years.

After the death of "Xingxing" and "Lingling", the United States proposed to rent a pair of giant pandas from China in 1999. In 2000, giant pandas "Meixiang" and "Tiantian" arrived at the National Zoo . On August 21, 2020, "Meixiang", who just celebrated her 22nd birthday, gave birth to a "little miracle" on Washington . This is the first time that a panda has successfully conceived and given birth through frozen semen artificial insemination . "Meixiang" has also become the oldest middle-aged giant pandas living in the United States. In 2020, the Smithsonian Institution National Zoo announced on December 7 that the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association have renewed their cooperation agreement, and the giant panda "Meixiang" and "Tiantian" and the newborn cub "Little Miracle" will live in the United States until the end of 2023.

Japanese tourists compete to see " Xiangxiang " can only draw lots

Chinese giant panda started their journey to Japan in 1972. On October 27, 1972, in order to commemorate the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations between , the Chinese government presented a pair of giant pandas "Kangkang" and "Lanlan" to Japan. As soon as the landline carrying giant pandas entered Japanese airspace, the Japanese side sent a team of fighter jets to escort. It is said that many Japanese people heard the news and went to Haneda Airport and Ueno Zoo to see the true appearance of the panda. On the way to the zoo from the airport, there were also police car trails and about 100 guards.

After coming to the zoo, these two "first generation of Japanese giant pandas" immediately set off an unprecedented boom in the history of Japanese zoos. Ueno Zoo’s admissions set a record high of 9.2 million in 1973. In order not to put too much pressure on the introverted "Lanlan", Ueno Zoo shortened the exhibition time to 2 hours. According to media reports at the time, only one-third of the lucky people visited saw giant pandas, and the visit lasted only 2 minutes.

In 2011, Ueno Zoo welcomed another pair of Chinese giant pandas "Bili" and "Fairy". They gave birth to a baby the second year after they arrived in Japan, but unfortunately the panda baby died after only less than a week. Five years later, another panda baby was finally born successfully. Tokyo has set up an election committee to name panda baby , and finally selected "Kanxiang" as the name of this newborn giant panda from 322,581 names submitted by the Japanese people.

In December 2017, the "Xiangxiang" of Ueno Zoo finally met with the public. Those who want to see "Xiangxiang" almost made the phone call, but in order to ensure the rest time of the panda baby, the park adopted an early lottery system. Although the first day was a working day, 18,300 applications were received, with a winning rate of only 45.8:1. The daily limit is no more than 2,000 tourists, and each person’s viewing time must not exceed 1 minute. Two months later, the visit method was changed from drawing lots to queuing on site to pick up numbers. So some people even took annual leave and stayed at a hotel near Ueno Zoo one day in advance, and bought a new camera for taking "Xiangxiang".

Traveling Mexican Giant pandas fall in love with local "recipes"

Compared with giant panda couples living in Japan, giant pandas living in Mexico "Yingying" and "Beibei" have more babies. In 1975, the Chinese government presented a pair of giant pandas "Yingying" and "Babe" to the Mexican government, and Mexico had its own giant panda for the first time. From 1980 to 1987, "Yingying" and "Beibei" gave birth to seven panda babies. In 1990, their granddaughter "Xinxin" was born, and she is also the only giant panda in Mexico.

According to the Chaputpek Zoo, which raises giant pandas, "Yingying" and "Babe" not only adapt to the plateau climate of Mexico, but also "Mexicanized" diet. The breeders and researchers plant bamboo in the zoo, and select about 10 kilograms of bamboo for giant pandas to eat every day. "Wing Ying" and "Beibei" follow the customs. The daily recipes not only include apples, rice, and carrots, but also often enjoy local cactus leaves.

The French president and panda celebrated their 40th birthday together

The joy brought to the French by giant pandas has lasted for 10 years. In 2012, " Huanhuan " and "Yuanzai" took a "panda plane" to Boval Zoo. "Because of them, the number of tourists at the Boval Zoo has jumped from 600,000 to 1.6 million every year, and every year it sells the top ten containers of panda plush toys imported from China." French Le Monde once published an article saying that Huanhuan and Yuanzai are the zoo's "money printing machines".

Boval Zoo Director Rudolf Drov had never seen such a large passenger flow before. He said: "This is a bit crazy. I saw some tourists crying emotionally in front of the pandas, and some tourists were watching the pandas there for several hours."

In August 2017, with the birth of "realizing the dream", the French once again fell into madness for the giant pandas. As the first giant panda born in France, "realizing dreams" seems to be more popular than its parents. The French "first lady" Brigitte named it, and the French President Macron even chose to spend his 40th birthday with "realizing dreams" in the zoo. In 2019, the ten-year lease period of "Huanhuan" and "Yuanzai" is approaching, and "Real Dream" is about to return to China after being weaned. "Can we still keep giant pandas?" Due to the high voice of the people, France finally negotiated with China, and several giant pandas continued their life in France.

Lu Xiaochuan, Liu Huiyu compiled it from: Xinhua News Agency , WenhuiPo , Global Network , China Daily , Global Times , Xinmin Evening News

Column Editor: Liu Lu Text editor: Lu Xiaochuan

Source: Author: Shangguanhe