The world's oldest male panda dies

The world's oldest male panda died in Berlin Zoo early yesterday at the age of 34. Bao Bao, the name of the male panda, is the only panda in Germany for many years.

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Bao Bao panda in Berlin zoo, Germany.

'Bao Bao panda has died peacefully while sleeping in his cage. The autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. We will never forget Bao Bao , 'said Heiner Kloes, a manager of the zoo.

Hua Guofeng, a former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, gave Bao Bao to German Prime Minister Helmut Schmidt in 1980. Bao Bao lived with a female panda named Tjen Tjen until 1984, when Tjen Tjen died. Then the zoo staff tried to make him mate with Ming Ming, a female panda in London, in 1991, but failed.

In 1991, Mr. Li Peng, then Chinese prime minister, promised to donate a panda to Germany. A year later, Yan Yan, a female panda, went to Berlin Zoo. But attempts to re-mate Bao Bao and Yan Yan failed. Yan Yan died in 2007 at the age of 22. Bao Bao then became the only panda in Germany.