Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Pan Pan was diagnosed with cancer in June - nine months after his 30th birthday

Pan Pan, the world's oldest male panda has died in China aged 31, six months after being diagnosed with cancer.

His more than 130 descendants account for a quarter of the world's captive-bred panda population.

Born in the wild in Sichuan in China, he was taken into captivity when he was just a few months old.

The world's oldest female panda is currently 36-year-old Basi, who also lives in China, after Jia Jia died aged 38 in Hong Kong in October.

Wild pandas usually live to about 20.

'Hero father'

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Pan Pan, whose name means "hope" or "expectation", died early on Wednesday morning at the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda, also in Sichuan.

The centre described the news of the death of the "hero-father" panda as "heart-wrenching".

Keepers said he had stopped moving and eating, and lost consciousness, as his health had deteriorated rapidly over the preceding three days.

In September, the International Union for Conservation of Nature announced that the status pandas had been changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable", as numbers had begun to increase.

The latest Chinese estimates show a population of 1,864 adults, as well as - according to China's State Forestry Administration - 422 in captivity.

But the IUCN warns that climate change is predicted to wipe out more than one third of the panda's bamboo habitat in the next 80 years.</s>The year 2016 seems to be going strong with its ominous streak as reports state that the world's oldest male panda, Pan Pan, died on Wednesday in China's Sichuan Province.

An autopsy is currently being carried out to find the reason behind the death. However, the circumstances of his death are not thought to be suspicious.

"Pan Pan was the equivalent to about 100 human years, but he had been living with cancer and his health had deteriorated in the past three days. He had lost consciousness," a keeper with the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Panda Tan Chengbin told Xinhua.

Pan Pan did not respond and move out to have dinner when the keeper called his name and offered him food, usually steamed corn bread or fresh bamboo leaves.

The panda, aged 31, lived in captivity since he was just a few months old. He was born in the wild in Sichuan's Baoxing County in 1985. Pan Pan was called 'Panda grandpa' by many and was diagnosed with cancer in June. Reports state that he also suffered from various age-related ailments like cataract. His name Pan Pan means expectation in Chinese

Pan Pan has fathered many panda cubs over the past 20 years and reports state that he has more than 130 descendants which account for the world's 25 percent population of captive-bred pandas.

The average lifespan of wild pandas is usually 20 years, but the ones who live in captivity generally live longer. A 36-year-old female panda named Basi is currently the oldest panda in the world. Giant pandas are one of the most endangered species in the world.</s>CHENGDU - Yet another celebrity has passed away in 2016. This time it is Pan Pan, the world's oldest male panda, who died at 31 in south-west China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday (Dec 28), Xinhua news agency reported.

An autopsy is being carried out to find the cause of his death, though the circumstances are not thought to be suspicious, according to Xinhua.

"Pan Pan was the equivalent to about 100 human years, but he had been living with cancer and his health had deteriorated in the past three days," Tan Chengbin, a keeper with the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Panda, told Xinhua. "He had lost consciousness."

Though born in the wild in Sichuan's Baoxing County in 1985, Pan Pan lived in captivity from just a few months old.

"Panda grandpa," as he became known, was diagnosed with cancer in June this year, and also suffered from common old-age conditions, such as cataracts and poor teeth, Xinhua said.

Pan Pan, which means "expectation" in Chinese, fathered many cubs over the past 20 years. He has more than 130 descendants, accounting for 25 per cent of the world's captively bred panda population.</s>Pan Pan, believed to be the world’s oldest panda with more than 130 descendants, died at the age of 31, officials at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas told AFP on Thursday.

His descendants reportedly account for a quarter of the world’s captive-bred panda population. Pan Pan, whose name means hope in Chinese, had been suffering from cancer. Known as “hero father”, Pan Pan lived most of his life in captivity after his birth in the Sichuan wilds. Xinhua quoted Tan Chengbin, a keeper at the center, who said, “Pan Pan was the equivalent to about 100 human years.”

Giant pandas are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species owing to their low reproductive rate and destruction of habitat. The center’s Twitter post said, “In the past three days, Pan Pan’s condition rapidly deteriorated, losing consciousness and the ability to move and eat.”

The animal, which is a symbol of wildlife conservation efforts, was categorised as endangered before being reassigned to the threatened species category. Recent studies peg the adult giant panda population at 1,864 in the wild, a figure that has risen six times over the decade.</s>Beijing: The world's oldest male panda, Pan Pan, who was battling cancer, died on December 28 in Chinas Sichuan Province at the age of 31.

Although his death isn't being considered suspicious, an autopsy is being carried out to find out the cause, according to Xinhua news agency.

"Pan Pan was the equivalent to about 100 human years, but he had been living with cancer and his health had deteriorated in the past three days," Tan Chengbin, a keeper with the Dujiangyan base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda said.

"He had lost consciousness," Tan said.

Pan Pan was born in 1985 in the wild in Sichuans Baoxing County, but began his life in captivity when he was just a few months old.

Fondly known as 'Panda Grandpa', he was diagnosed with cancer in June this year and also suffered from common old-age conditions, such as cataracts and poor teeth.

An earlier report said he was in a "nursing home" for elderly pandas and though he was very thin he was keeping in good spirits.

"When the keeper called his name and offered him food, usually steamed corn bread or fresh bamboo leaves, he was able to respond and move out to have dinner," the report said.

Pandas are notoriously difficult to breed, but Pan Pan lived a particularly active life for a panda and fathered many cubs over the past 20 years.

He has more than 130 descendants, accounting for 25 percent of the world's panda population bred in captivity.

The average lifespan of wild pandas is normally 20 years, but those in captivity usually live longer.

Pan Pan, which means "expectation" in Chinese, was also name of the mascot for the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, though the mascot was not modeled on "panda grandpa" but on a 36-year-old female panda Basi, currently the oldest panda in the world.

Giant pandas are one of the worlds most endangered species. Fewer than 2,000 pandas live in the wild, mostly in the provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi. At the end of 2013 China had 1,864 giant pandas in the wild.

There are also 422 in captivity, Chinas State Forestry Administration said.</s>The world's oldest male panda, whose descendants total a quarter of the world's captive-bred pandas, has died in China at the equivalent human age of 100.

Pan Pan, which lived in China's south-west Sichuan province, died aged 31. Officials will carry out an autopsy though the death was not deemed suspicious.

Tan Chengbin, a keeper at the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Panda in Dujiangyan, told the Xinhua news agency: "Pan Pan was the equivalent to about 100 human years, but he had been living with cancer and his health had deteriorated in the past three days. He had lost consciousness."

Pan Pan was born in the wild in 1985, but lived in captivity after a few months. He became known as "panda grandpa" and, at his death, had more than 130 descendants, Straits Times reported.

Towards the end of his life he suffered from cataracts and poor teeth.

The giant panda, for years a symbol of the conservation movement, was declared no longer endangered.

After its population was estimated to have grown by more than 16 per cent in just over a decade, the International Union for Conservation of Nature upgraded its status to “vulnerable”.

The world's oldest panda, Jia Jia, a female, died in Hong Kong aged 38 in October.</s>Giant panda Pan Pan with a cake made of ice for his 30th birthday in September last year at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in Dujiangyan, in south-western China's Sichuan.

Pan Pan, the world's oldest male panda with more than 130 descendants - a quarter of all the pandas bred in captivity on the planet - has died at age 31, officials said yesterday.

Giant pandas have a notoriously low reproductive rate, but Pan Pan was a prolific father.

The centre said the "hero father" had been suffering from cancer.

Pan Pan was born in the wild in Sichuan in 1985, but lived in captivity from just a few months old.</s>Pan Pan was born in the wilds of the southwestern province of Sichuan in 1985.</s>World's oldest male panda dies at 31, remembered by many

Pan Pan, the world's oldest male panda, sired more than 130 offspring, amounting to a quarter of all captive-bred pandas in the world. He died at the age of 31....</s>#Panda Pan Pan has more than 130 descendants, or nearly 1/4 of world‘s captive-bred pandas are related to him #RIP https://t.co/jBH9PJt0sS pic.twitter.com/ShwUyM87mq
Pan Pan, the oldest male panda on Earth, dies at the age of 31.