Tokyo - A giant panda that was the most popular resident of a Tokyo zoo died Wednesday of old age at 22 years and seven months. Ling Ling, a male giant panda, came to the Ueno Zoo in 1992 from his birthplace at the Beijing Zoo to commemorate the 20th anniversary of normalized relations between Japan and China.
Japan gave China a Japan-born panda in exchange for Ling Ling, who had suffered recently from decreased heart and kidney functions because of his age. He was equivalent to 80 to 90 years old in human terms, according to the Jiji Press news agency.
Japan currently has eight pandas leased from China. Ling Ling was the only giant panda Japan owned.
