<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The world's oldest male panda in captivity has died in an amusement park zoo in Hong Kong on Thursday.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The panda, called An An, was euthanized at the age of 35 - the equivalent of a human living till 105.</div><div><br></div><div>Officials at Ocean Park say the decision was reached after he showed "steady signs of deterioration" over the past few weeks.</div><div><br></div><div>An An, together with its mate Jia Jia, was gifted to Hong Kong from China's central government in 1999.</div><div><br></div><div>Ocean Park's authorities said the panda's food intake had declined progressively, until it stopped taking solid food altogether and subsisting only on water and electrolyte beverages</div><div><br></div><div>The panda's caretakers also observed his activity levels had declined and its rest periods were getting increasingly longer.</div><div><br></div><div>Park officials eventually decided to euthanise the bear "to alleviate the geriatric panda's discomfort," they said in a statement on Thursday.</div><div><br></div><div>"An An has brought us fond memories with numerous heart-warming moments. His cleverness and playfulness will be dearly missed," said Paolo Pong, Chairman of Ocean Park Corporation.</div><div><br></div><div>Ocean Park has in the past come under criticism, with activists especially calling out its live dolphin performances - which were eventually stopped, though some say this was not enough.</div><div><br></div><div>"Ocean Park's decision to end its dolphin shows but to keep the animals as a tourist gimmick is a missed ethical and financial opportunity," Jason Baker, vice president of PETA had then said.</div><div><br></div><div>The park continues to keep a large range of creatures, from dolphins to penguins - in captivity.</div><div><br></div><div>An An lived to 35, or the human equivalent of 105 years</div><div>Born in the wild in Sichuan, An An arrived with his mate in Hong Kong in 1999.</div><div><br></div><div>But his female mate, Jia Jia, died in 2016 at the age of 38, becoming the oldest female panda in captivity.</div><div><br></div><div>Two more pandas - Ying Ying and Le Le - remain at the Ocean Park zoo.</div><div><br></div><div>The average life expectancy of the species is below 20 years in the wild, but they can live longer in captivity.</div><div><br></div><div>China considers pandas a national treasure, but have loaned them to other countries as a way to forge political friendships across the globe. -bbc</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/TR</div>