China's Oldest Giant Panda to be Preserved

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 ◆ China's Oldest Giant Panda to be Preserved

Changchang, 35, China's oldest known giant panda, who died on May 20 in Jinan, capital of Shandong Province in the eastern country, will be preserved as a mounted specimen.

The male panda, weighing 114 kilograms at his death, had been suffering from organ failure since the beginning of this month, according to the medical team with Jinan Zoo, where he lived.

The average life expectancy of the endangered species is 25 years. Thirty-five equals the advanced age of 75 to 85 in human terms and is definitely the upper limit for pandas.

Found sick and starving in the Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve in northwestern China's Gansu Province, Changchang had been a star in Jinan since he arrived in 1995.

Local media issued updates on his health since he was reported to have eating and breathing difficulties. Youngsters swarmed to the zoo to visit the ailing panda.

His daily diet had been three pieces of steamed bread, three liters of milk and at least 15 kilograms of bamboo leaves, but Changchang refused to eat anything after May 8.

A zoo spokesperson said that an autopsy would determine the cause of his death.

Changchang would be stuffed and mounted and returned to his home in Gansu Province.