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World's Oldest Panda Lives in Jinan Zoo
A thirty-four-year-old panda in Jinan Zoo is believed to be the world's oldest, said zoo keepers at this capital of east China's Shandong Province.
Changchang, a male panda, was sent to Jinan Zoo in 1995 from his hometown, a nature reserve in northwest China's Gansu Province, and has bathed in love and care ever since.
As Changchang grew old, his teeth became too loose to bite his favorite food -- tender bamboo leaves. Experts at the zoo then worked out a special recipe for him -- corn bread mixed with fishmeal, bone meal, ground meat and minced bamboo leaves, which Changchang enjoys very much.
To make his new home resemble his hometown, zoo keepers planted bamboo around Changchang's house, which is air-conditioned to 24 -26 degrees centigrade and with average humidity kept at 70 percent.
"Despite his old age, Changchang is in very good health," said a panda keeper.
Experts say the life expectancy of wild pandas is around 25 years, while that of pandas in captivity can be over 30 years. The world's oldest panda before Changchang, a 37-year-old female called Dudu, died of epilepsy in 1999, at a zoo in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.
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