Sorrow prevails in Thailand on Wednesday, mourning the last panda in the country, the 21-year-old giant panda Lin Hui , whose life captivated the kingdom for years until she died at night in Chiang Mai Zoo in the north of the country.

Lin Hui, who was loaned to Thailand by China, was the last of three pandas in Thailand.

She has lived under constant surveillance from cameras in an air-conditioned enclosure at the zoo since 2003.

The female panda's snout began to bleed on Tuesday evening, and her condition deteriorated at night until she passed away, said the park's director, Wotichai Muangman.

“We helped Lin Hui as much as we could until she left us,” he said. Chinese and Thai experts will jointly conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Social networks were flooded Wednesday with messages of sadness over the passing of Lin Hui, who deprived Thailand of the last pandas on its territory.

"I used to watch her all the time on TV. She was the source of my excitement. Rest in peace Lin Hui," wrote one Twitter user.

Another tweet read: "I only visited her last week at the zoo. I am so saddened by the news of her passing. Rest in peace."

The panda Lin Hui, who was loaned to the Chinese city of Chengdu as part of what is known as "panda diplomacy", was covered by an insurance contract worth half a million dollars. It was supposed to be returned in October.

Over the years, persistent attempts were made to encourage her to marry her partner, Shuang Shuang, who died in 2019 due to a heart attack. However, these efforts, which included showing them films showing mating between pandas, did not succeed in stimulating desire in the male partner.

After artificial insemination, Lin Hui finally gave birth to a cub named Lin Bing in 2009, which sparked a panda-like state in the kingdom, as many animal lovers watched the "Panda Channel", which broadcast snapshots of the family's life around the clock between 2009 and 2012. Lin Ping's panda was returned to China a year later.

Giant pandas are known for their poor appetite for mating, and they are among the most threatened species in the world.

Their life expectancy ranges between 15 and 20 years in nature, but pandas may live up to the age of 30 in captivity, according to the World Fund for Nature Conservation.