Ling Ling, Panda at Tokyo Zoo, 22
Brad Ferguson
TOKYO - Japan's oldest giant panda, Ling Ling, a longtime star at
Tokyo's largest zoo and a symbol of friendship with China, died
Wednesday [30 Apr] of heart failure, zookeepers said.
Ling Ling was 22 years and seven months old, equivalent to about 70
human years, the Ueno Zoo said. It said he was the fifth-oldest known
male panda in the world.
Ling Ling began losing his appetite and strength last August because of
his old age, and recently suffered from heart and kidney problems, zoo
official Motoyasu Ida said.
Keepers and visitors mourned the panda, which was the zoo's most
popular attraction for more than 15 years. Public broadcaster NHK
showed many visitors writing condolence messages, with some brushing
away tears.
Ling Ling's portrait was displayed inside his cage, along with bouquets
and offerings of his favorite bamboo shoots.
An autopsy found he died of heart failure, Ida said.
Fukuji Sugimoto, chief panda keeper at the zoo, said he felt something
was wrong as soon as he entered Ling Ling's cage early Wednesday.
"He always turned around when I called 'Ling Ling.' This morning he
didn't. I rushed to him and touched his head, and he was already cold.
That broke my heart," Sugimoto said. "He was such a darling."
Ling Ling died just one day after the zoo withdrew him from public view
because of his worsening health.
Born at China's Beijing Zoo in 1985, Ling Ling came to Tokyo in 1992.
He had traveled to Mexico three times in recent years for unsuccessful
mating.
Ling Ling was the only giant panda owned by Japan, with eight other
pandas elsewhere in the country all loaned by China, according to media
reports.
With Ling Ling's loss, Ueno Zoo is without a panda for the first time
since 1972, when the first panda couple arrived from China to mark the
signing of bilateral peace treaty.
Ida said the zoo is currently consulting with the Foreign Ministry
about obtaining another panda from China.
The regional newspaper Tokyo Shimbun reported Tuesday that Prime
Minister Yasuo Fukuda may ask Chinese President Hu Jintao to consider
loaning a pair of pandas to Japan.
Giant pandas are one of the world's rarest animals, with about 1,600
living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces.
Pic:
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