HONG KONG: It may not be a landmark birthday for humans, but turning 37 on Tuesday made Hong Kong’s Jia Jia the oldest-ever giant panda in captivity, and she celebrated in style.
The panda was presented with a towering birthday cake made from ice and fruit juice with the number 37 carved on top in her enclosure at the city’s Ocean Park theme park.
“Jia Jia has achieved two Guinness world record titles — the oldest panda living in captivity and the oldest panda ever living in captivity,” said adjudicator of Guinness World Records Blythe Ryan Fitzwilliam, during a ceremony at the park.
Jia Jia was born in the wild in Sichuan, China in 1978 and was given to Hong Kong in 1999 to mark the semi-autonomous city’s handover by Britain two years earlier.
