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Chongqing News

“100-year-old grandma” panda celebrates her 38th birthday

2020-08-18 10:26:30

A 38-year-old giant panda is the equivalent of a 110 to 140-year-old human.

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Last weekend, many giant panda fans gathered at Chongqing Zoo to make birthday cakes, sing happy birthday songs and offer birthday greetings to celebrate the 38th birthday of the giant panda “Xinxing”.

According to the introduction, Xinxing is the world’s oldest existing captive giant panda. In general, a giant panda’s age of 1 year is roughly equivalent to a human’s age of 3-4 years, so the 38-year-old Xinxing is equivalent to a human’s age of 110-140 years.

Panda Xinxing gorged herself on food

After eating and drinking, the giant panda Xinxing walked to rest in the shade.

Exhibited in Canada during the 1988 Winter Olympics

Yin Yanqiang, Giant Panda Technical Supervisor at Chongqing Zoo introduced that the giant panda Xinxing was born in August 1982 in the wild of Baoxing, Sichuan Province. In 1983, Xinxing was lost with her mother, but was found by rescuers in the wild. At the time, she was covered in mud and dirty. 

Afterwards, Xinxing moved into Chongqing Zoo, where about 10 keepers participated in the care of her. A team of three or four keepers would take care of her and protect her with care every day.

During the 1988 Winter Olympics, the young and energetic Xinxing (then known as Qiongqiong) was exhibited in Calgary, Canada. Her round, goofy appearance as well as cute demeanor created a sensation, attracting millions of viewers. After returning to China, the giant panda, who had made a name for herself, was given her current name, Xinxing (it means a rising star in Chinese). 

The giant panda Xinxing was guided to the birthday cake by the keepers.

Xinxing’s descendants including 153 giant pandas

Yin Yanqiang said that among the giant pandas in the world, less than 30 giant pandas live to be over 30 years old, and the number of giant pandas over 30 years old is also limited. It is understood that the current world record holder for longest-lived giant panda is Jiajia, who died in Ocean Park in Hong Kong in 2016 at the age of about 38 years and 2 months. Xinxing is the oldest remaining captive giant panda in the world. Xinxing is expected to break the record for the longest lifespan of a giant panda.

In addition to a long and healthy life, the key words in Xinxing’s life are happiness and prosperity, because she is a real “great grandmother” panda with many grandchildren. In 1992, Xinxing had her first child with Chuanchuan at Shanghai Zoo. Since then, she has bred a total of eight litters of 10 pandas. At the age of 20, she gave birth to twins, setting a world record for the birth of an oldest panda.

In the “Panda Kingdom”, the thriving Xinxing Family holds an extremely important position. As of the end of 2019, there were 153 offspring of Xinxing residing in more than 20 countries and regions, including Canada, the United States, Japan, Taipei, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Ya’an and Shanghai.

Good health by keeping weight within 95-100kg

According to Yin, Xinxing has been in good health with no serious illnesses and very few colds and flu for 38 years. The Chongqing Zoo conducts a comprehensive health examination twice a year for Xinxing, whose main indicators are quite good, except that her blood pressure is a little higher than when she was younger.

There is a secret to Nova's longevity. In addition to genetics, personality, and exercise, it is important to feed her scientifically. The zoo has long insisted on careful and comprehensive observation and health examination of Xinxing, including measuring blood pressure and checking her teeth every week, weighing her every month, as well as conducting a comprehensive physical examination for her every six months. Xinxing’s weight is generally controlled at 95-100kg, a moderate weight for her “venerable age”. Currently, there are 15 giant pandas on display at Chongqing Zoo, including 10 females and five males. In addition, the giant panda Ershun, who lives at Calgary Zoo in Canada, gave birth to a pigeon pair, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, overseas on October 13, 2015. (Translated by Wang Huixin, Fathom Language Limited)

Editor:Jiang Yiwei