最长寿大熊猫“新星”去世，享年38岁
Xin Xing, Giant Panda With Progeny Around the Globe, Dies at 38
TIFFANY MAY
2020年12月24日
HONG KONG — Xin Xing, a giant panda who grew to an age that shattered records, lived a life of great appetites.
香港——年龄打破纪录的大熊猫“新星”度过了饕餮的一生。
Born in the wild in a sprawling panda sanctuary in China’s Sichuan Province, she was transferred to the Chongqing Zoo in southwestern China when she was just a year old.
她出生在中国四川省一个广阔的野外大熊猫保护区，一岁时被送到中国西南部的重庆动物园。
There, she became known for outpacing other pandas with her seemingly bottomless stomach — putting away 70 pounds of bamboo shoots, leaves and fruit daily.
在那里，她以发育超过其他熊猫闻名，她的胃口像个无底洞，每天能吃70磅的竹笋、竹叶和水果。
She gained the distinction of becoming the world’s oldest panda in captivity. And as the matriarch of 153 descendants who have lived around the globe, she was a potent symbol of China’s panda diplomacy.
她获得了世界上最长寿的人工饲养大熊猫的殊荣。作为全球153位后裔的祖先，她是中国熊猫外交的强大象征。
On Dec. 8, Xin Xing, whose name means “new star” in Mandarin, died at 38 (the equivalent of at least 110 in human years). The cause was multiple organ failures and other ailments that led to fatal infections in her respiratory and digestive tracts, the Chongqing Zoo said in a statement on Monday.
12月8日，新星去世，享年38岁（相当于人类寿命至少110岁）。重庆动物园周一在声明中说，她的死亡是由于多器官衰竭和其他疾病继发呼吸道和消化道致命感染造成的。
For a giant panda described by her longtime caretaker as bad-tempered and aggressive, Xin Xing achieved several feats in life.
长期饲养员说新星脾气不好、攻击性强，然而她的一生中取得了好几项成就。
Fewer than 30 pandas in captivity have lived beyond the age of 30. (Wild pandas have even shorter life spans — 14 to 20 years.) Xin Xing broke that barrier.
在人工饲养的大熊猫中，能活过30岁的不到30只。（野生大熊猫的寿命更短，只有14至20年。）新星打破了这个纪录。
Giant pandas also have a low success rate with breeding in captivity. Females ovulate only once a year, in the spring, and can conceive for only around one to three days during this time. The window is small. Success is not certain.
大熊猫人工饲养繁殖的成功率也很低。雌性每年仅在春季排卵一次，在此期间只有约一到三天可以受孕。窗口期很小。成功率无法确定。
But Xin Xing gave birth to at least 10 cubs, according to the Chinese news media, helping to spawn progeny that have lived in Canada, Taiwan and the United States.
但据中国新闻媒体报道，新星至少生过十只幼崽，帮助繁衍了生活在加拿大、台湾和美国的后代。
There are 1,900 giant pandas in the wild, and 600 others are in zoos and breeding centers that seek to increase the population of the vulnerable species. China owns almost all the animals, including those born abroad to parents lent for a fee to foreign zoos.
目前，野外生存的大熊猫有1900只，另有600只生活在动物园和繁育中心，以增加该濒危物种的数量。中国拥有几乎所有这些大熊猫，包括收费借给外国动物园的大熊猫在国外出生的孩子们。
At the Chongqing Zoo, Xin Xing lived a seemingly untroubled life, lounging in a bear-size pool in the summer and eating seven meals a day.
在重庆动物园，新星过着无忧无虑的生活，夏天在大小合宜的游泳池里休息，每天吃七顿饭。
Her caretaker of 28 years, Zhang Naicheng, told China Daily in August, “When she was younger, she ate faster and much more than other pandas.”
照看了她28年的饲养员张乃成在8月告诉《中国日报》：“她年轻时，吃得比别的熊猫都快，而且多得多。”
The panda was also prone to temper tantrums when she was young, he told the China News Service in 2018. “Xin Xing was pretty hotheaded back then,” he said. “Among the pandas, she was a pretty fierce one. Now that she’s old, she’s become more docile and less easily provoked.”
他在2018年对中国新闻社说，这只熊猫小时候也很爱发脾气。“当时新星的脾气比较暴躁，”他说。“给我的感觉是几个猫中比较凶的一个，现在老了以后变得比较温顺了，脾气也没那么急躁了。”
For her 38th birthday, in August, zoo keepers presented her with a large ice cube piled high with watermelon slices, apple wedges and bamboo leaf garnishes. Children sang to her from a distance.
8月，动物园饲养员为了庆祝她38岁的生日，为她献上一大块堆满西瓜和苹果切片的冰块，用竹叶做装饰。孩子们在远处为她唱歌。
Xin Xing celebrated the Chinese lunar New Year with four wobbly-footed cubs, including two great-granddaughters, Xi Xi and Qing Qing, at the Chongqing Zoo.
新星在重庆动物园和四只还不会走路的大熊猫幼崽共度了春节，其中包括曾孙女喜喜和庆庆。
Xin Xing’s parents could not be identified, and her male companion, Chuan Chuan, died in 2010. Her survivors, too many to name, include a son, Le Le, in the Memphis Zoo; a grandson, Tuan Tuan, in the Taipei Zoo; a granddaughter, Er Shun, who was recently returned to China from the Calgary Zoo; and her great-grand cubs Jia Panpan, Jia Yueyue, Yuan Zai and Yuan Bao.
人们无法确定新星的父母，她的雄性伴侣川川于2010年去世。她的后代非常多，包括孟菲斯动物园的儿子乐乐。台北动物园的孙子团团；最近从卡尔加里动物园归还回国的孙女二顺；以及她的重孙加盼盼，加悦悦，圆仔和圆宝。
As Xin Xing grew older and her temperament softened, her attachment to her caretakers grew stronger, the zoo said. In her final years, Mr. Zhang moved to a room 20 yards from her enclosure to watch over her at night. To spare her aging teeth, he pared down bamboo shoots, feeding her the shucked stems and tender leaves.
动物园说，随着新星变老，脾气变得温和，她对饲养员的依恋越来越强。在她的最后几年，张乃成搬到离她的围栏不到20米距离的屋子里，在夜间看护她。为了保护她衰老的牙齿，他把竹子劈开，用去壳的茎和嫩叶喂她。
“She is like a family member to me,” he told the local news media, adding, “I will take care of her for the rest of her days.”
“她就像我的家人一样，”他告诉当地新闻媒体，并说，“我会在她的余生里照顾她。”
In the past two months, the giant panda began losing her voracious appetite.
在过去两个月里，这只大熊猫旺盛的食欲开始减退。
Her gait grew unsteady.
她的步态变得不稳。
She developed difficulties breathing and a persistent cough.
她出现呼吸困难和持续咳嗽。
In the end, the nation’s top panda experts could not save her, the zoo said.
动物园说，最后，就连中国顶级大熊猫专家也无法拯救她。
On Monday, as news of her death spread, a video tribute from a retired Chongqing zookeeper, Huang Jianying, began circulating on Chinese social media. In the video, which appeared to have been filmed during a visit to the zoo this year, she reminisced about her time with Xin Xing.
周一，随着她的死讯传开，来自重庆动物园退休管理员黄俭英的纪念视频开始在中国社交媒体上传播。录像内容似乎是今年访问动物园时拍摄的，她回忆着自己与新星在一起的时光。
“Before, you asked me for apples,” Ms. Huang says. “I don’t have the chance to feed you anymore, but I still brought you one.”
“以前你问到我要苹果吃，”黄俭英说，“我带了一个过来，哎，现在再没有机会喂你了。”
As for Mr. Zhang, her longtime caretaker, he had one wish for the giant panda with the huge appetite and globe-trotting descendants: “I hope Xin Xing can live longer,” he mused, “until she is 40 years old.”
对于这只食欲旺盛、后代遍布全球的大熊猫，她的长期饲养员张乃成曾经有过一个心愿。“就是天天陪伴它到老，”他若有所思地说。“希望新星能活到40岁。”
