An An, World’s Oldest Male Panda In Captivity, Dies At 35
Go back over 100 years and zoos provided most people of their only view of animals that many would not have otherwise seen except in drawings. Very few photographs or films were available and people who could afford to would flock to see what must have been almost like science fiction to many of them.
Moving on a few years, and zoos became viewed as a cruel way of keeping animals in captivity for little justifiable reason. Photographs and films were becoming available and then along came television which meant that many more people could see images of animals, often in their native environment. Zoos became less popular and the cost of looking after animals increased to make a visit to the zoo a far more expensive day out than it had been up until this point.
Many zoos changed into wildlife parks, or at least were replaced by such things. More importantly, as it became clear that many animals were facing extinction in the wild, the remaining zoos and parks began cooperative breeding programs to ensure that some species would not disappear quite as quickly as was once feared. The situation today is perhaps slightly better than it was for some animals but, outside of zoos, many have been left with very little natural habitat because of man's demands for living space and resources of all kinds.
Which brings us to this particular piece. It is not earth shattering news, but a panda has lived to the ripe old equivalent age of 105 years in captivity. Has it been a benefit to this panda in particular or even to pandas in general? What are your views on the role of zoos and wildlife parks in the modern world? [JR]
From the following story:
An An, the world's oldest male giant panda in captivity, has died at the age of 35, the equivalent of 105 years old for a human.
Ocean Park, the Hong Kong theme park where the panda lived, said An An's health had been declining in recent weeks and he had been eating less. The panda was put down by a veterinarian on Thursday morning after he stopped eating altogether.
Ocean Park is deeply saddened to announce the loss of An An," it said in a statement on its website.
An An was a gift from the Chinese government and had been at the park since 1999. Jia Jia, the female panda who was given to Ocean Park with An An, died in 2016 when she was 38.
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