Hong Kong's peace panda celebrates birthday as oldest known giant

Happy Birthday, An An. The oldest known panda in captivity. Photo / Hong Kong Ocean Park, Weibo

Hong Kong's famous giant panda celebrated an impressive milestone last week, making him the oldest known in captivity.

An An, turned 35 last week at the Hong Kong Ocean Park zoo.

Born in the wilds of Sichuan China in 1986, An An - whose name means "peace" - was gifted to the Hong Kong government in 1999. How does a panda celebrate such a momentous occasion? With an ice cream cake.

Zookeepers usually feed iced treats to the animals to keep them cool during the humid Hong Kong summers. However, for this special occasion the treats were fashioned into a cake.

The joyous occasion is tempered by the fact that the previous oldest panda was his mate Jia Jia. Both gifted by the Chinese panda programme in Chengdu, Jia Jia died in 2016. At the ripe old age of 38, she remains the oldest captive panda in history.

In the wild these animals are known to live between 20 to 30 years. Until recently, they have also been considered one of the most endangered mammals in the world. Their numbers had dwindled with the reduction of their natural habitat in bamboo forests.

In 2004 the WWF census estimated there were just over 1800 in the wild. However in the decade since the natural population has increased by 17 per cent.

Sharing the cake with female panda Ying Ying, it is hoped that the zoo might deliver its own set of panda cubs.

"The duo succeeded in their natural mating attempts earlier this year, and Ying Ying has been showing typical pregnancy symptoms since late July," said the park in a release marking An An's birthday.

Last month China recognised the International Union for Conservation of Nature's decision to take them off the "endangered" list.

Reclassified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN in 2016, it took some time for recognition of the classification by China's Department of Natural Ecological Protection.

However, the black and white creatures are almost in the clear.

"Large areas of natural ecosystems have been systematically and completely protected, and wildlife habitats have been effectively improved," said Cui Shuhong, director of China's DNEP at a press conference for the reclassification.