Oldest captive panda dies at 33

An estimated 1,600 pandas are left in the wild in China

The oldest panda raised in captivity has died in a zoo in eastern China at the age of 33, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.

Peipei died on 13 August when her "organs simply failed", Xinhua reported. She was said to be the equivalent of 100 in human years.

The news came as China announced it was building a giant panda protection zone in the south-west of the country.

It is hoped the new reserve will encourage the animals to breed.

Pandas rarely breed in captivity and are endangered in the wild.

The average span of the Giant Panda is 25-30 years.

An official at a nature reserve in Baoxing country, in Sichuan province, said the new zone would have an area of 1,200 sq km and would cost 180m yuan (about $21.8m).

"Expansion of protection zones will play a vital role in avoiding inbreeding and helping increase the number of the rare creatures," he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

In June, China announced the results of the first comprehensive survey of its wild panda population.

This showed there were an estimated 1,600 of the creatures left in the wild, 40% more than previous figures suggested.

Correspondents warned that the numbers might reflect the fact that the survey was so thorough, rather than a genuine recovery.

A further 161 pandas were reported to be living in captivity.