The world's oldest panda in captivity, Jia Jia, celebrated her 37th birthday on Tuesday at the Hong Kong Ocean Park. Jia Jia now holds two Guinness World Record titles: one for being the oldest panda ever to live in captivity and another for being the world's oldest panda currently living in captivity.
Giant Panda Jia Jia Celebrates 37th Birthday And Two Guinness World Records https://t.co/OybsLXLHW8
— NPR (@NPR) July 28, 2015
"So I was here today to recognize two Guinness World Records titles for Jia Jia. The first being the oldest panda living in captivity and then the second title for the oldest panda ever in captivity," Blythe Ryan Fitzwilliam, adjudicator of Guinness World Records, said during a ceremony marking Jia Jia's milestone birthday, according to CCTV.
"The previous record holder for the oldest ever in captivity was actually in 1999. So you can see the kind of difficulties in getting a panda to live even longer, it's really quite difficult to take another 15 years to beat that record," Fitzwilliam said.
The Guinness World Records, in a statement, said that Jia Jia's long life is particularly impressive as the average lifespan of giant pandas is only 18-20 years, and 30 in captivity.
Happy 37th birthday to Jia Jia, Oldest panda ever in captivity https://t.co/o18JQYKFAy pic.twitter.com/eMzANnt0nY — GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) July 28, 2015
The female panda ate a vegetable ice cake and bamboo in celebration of her milestone birthday, reported Associated Press. Her partner An An also celebrated his 29th birthday.
HK 37-year-old panda Jia Jia set Guinness record of "oldest panda ever in captivity" (Lui Siu Wai) pic.twitter.com/kyXNuOEg6H
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) July 28, 2015
"Jia Jia is the oldest panda ever, so she is really, really old," said Suzanne Gendron, Ocean Park's executive director of Zoological Operations and Education, according to The Hong Kong Standard.
Jia Jia was born in China's Sichuan province in 1978 and gifted to Hong Kong in 1999. She now weighs 78 kilos and eats 6 kilos of bamboo every day. High fiber biscuits are also a part of her diet, according to The Hong Kong Standard.
Watch Jia Jia's birthday celebration below
