Big birthday for venerable panda

Basi was given a special party at Panda World, Fuzhou A Chinese panda has celebrated reaching 25 years in age - the equivalent of 100-years-old for a human. Basi was given flowers, fruit and a huge cake at a park in eastern China's Fujian province.

Among her hundreds of visitors was Li Xingyu, who saved Basi from drowning 21 years ago when she lived in the wild.

Basi was played a song specially written for the occasion but later retreated into her cave to eat cake, the China Daily reported.

A special website, stamps, postcards and calendars were also published in Basi's honour.

The panda is something of a celebrity in China, regularly appearing on Chinese television. In 1990 she served as the mascot for the Asian Games.

But she has suffered health problems, including a cataract and high blood pressure, according to Xinhua news agency.

Basi's age is something to be celebrated because the average life expectancy of a panda is 12 years, and there are only an estimated 1,600 wild pandas left in China's central forests, and some 160 in captivity.

Did you know?

Pandas rarely breed in captivity, and have been shown sex education videos to encourage them to do so.

See also

• Sex Ed