Jia Jia, the world oldest giant panda, turns 37 this year, and she's celebrating it with two Guinness World Records. 

The Ocean Park in Hong Kong celebrated the birthday of Jia Jia and three other giant pandas on Tuesday. The famous park invited Guinness World Records' adjudicator Blythe Ryan Fitzwilliam to the event to verify Jia Jia's world records. The occasion was also attended by park executives and several Hong Kong government officials. 

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"Giant pandas are undoubtedly one of the Earth's most endangered and well-known species. Thanks to the attentive care of the Park for the past 16 years, Jia Jia has set a new longevity record. I wish her continuing happiness and good health," Fitzwilliam said.

Jia Jia was given a towering icy birthday cake to commemorate the occasion. 

Jia Jia is the "Oldest Panda Ever in Captivity" and also the "Oldest Panda Living in Captivity." She was born in 1978 in Sichuan, China. Thirty-seven panda years is equivalent to a hundred in human years.

China's Central Government transferred Jia Jia and An An, a 29-year-old male panda - the world's second oldest panda captivity - to the Ocean Park in 1999. Since then, almost 27 million tourists have visited the pandas. 

"We strive to provide the best possible care to our animal ambassadors, from the day they are born or arrive at the Park until their golden years," said Ocean Park Chairman Leo Kung. 

According to Suzanne Gendron, Ocean Park's executive director of Zoological Operations and Education, Jia Jia and An An are both in "satisfactory health."

However, the two's carers monitor Jia Jia's high blood pressure and arthritis and makes sure that the panda receives regular medication. Jia Jia also has cataracts, leading to poor eyesight. An An has high blood pressure as well, which is normal to pandas in their age. 

With less than 2000 pandas now in the wild, captivity breeding is the key to prevent extinction.

"Standards in panda care have been raised in recent years, evidenced by increasing longevity of pandas," said Li Desheng, deputy director of Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration. 

A female giant panda almost reached the age of 37 in the 90s, but ultimately died in July of 1999. 

Jia Jia shares her birthday with other pandas An An, Ying Ying, and Le Le.

TagsJia Jia, giant pandas, world's oldest giant panda, giant pandas extinct, Ocean Park in Hong Kong, giant panda in China, Giant Panda Facts, Ailuropoda melanoleuca