Ling-Ling, Panda Given to U.S. by China, Dead at Age 23

Ling-Ling, the female giant panda who symbolized the opening of relations between the United States and China, was found dead Wednesday.

She and her mate, Hsing-Hsing, have been the National Zoo’s most popular feature for 20 years. The black-and-white, bamboo-eating animals have attracted about 3 million people a year since their arrival, zoo spokesman Mike Morgan said.

Zoo officials said the death was unexpected, although at 23 Ling-Ling was old for a panda--the oldest outside China. In the wild, pandas rarely live beyond their teens. Hsing-Hsing, now 22, appears in good health and will remain on view, Morgan said.

Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived here amid fanfare as a gift to the United States from the People’s Republic of China in 1972 after President Richard M. Nixon’s visit to China that year.

Their several unsuccessful attempts over the years to reproduce made them celebrities worldwide. Each of Ling-Ling’s pregnancies was followed in detail, in hopes she would be the first panda in the United States to bear cubs in captivity.

She did give birth to five full-term cubs, but all of them died shortly after birth because of imperfect immune systems, Morgan said.

“Ling-Ling was very popular, and her death has affected people here more than any death that I’ve been around for,” he said.

Ling-Ling was found dead in the pandas’ outdoor enclosure by a keeper assigned to their 3 p.m. feeding, the spokesman said. A zoo pathologist will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death.