Celibate Panda's Produce Baby
Updated : May 28, 2009
Thailand's famously celibate giant pandas finally produced a cub Wednesday, after artificial insemination succeeded where attempts to get them to mate using pornography and low-carb diets failed.
Chiang Mai zoo director Thanapath Pongpamorn said eight-year-old female Lin Hui gave birth to a cub weighing an estimated 200 grams (eight ounces), just three months after receiving semen from nine-year-old partner Chuang Chuang.
The pandas, the zoo's star residents, had shown no interest in reproducing the traditional way since they both arrived on a 10-year loan from China in 2003.
"This panda cub is a success for artificial insemination and a success for panda breeding in Thailand," Thanapath told AFP.
He said Lin Hui was being very protective of her cub and had not allowed any officials to get close, but they were monitoring her behaviour and said she was "raising her cub well."
In 2006, Chuang Chuang, who had been deemed too heavy to mate with Lin Hui, lost seven kilograms (15 pounds) on a low-carbohydrate diet, and was then shown 15-minute video clips of successful panda couplings.
But the panda porn did little to inspire. Lin Hui was first artificially inseminated in April 2007 but failed to become pregnant.
The zoo tried a different approach in January this year, when unusually cold weather in the northern city prompted an unusually frisky response from Lin Hui.
Authorities took the pair out of their usual climate-controlled environment in the hope of provoking a steamy response during the pandas' mating season -- but again to no avail.
The cub will officially belong to China but Thailand will raise it for about 24 months, Thanapath said.
Giant pandas, notorious for their low sex drive, are among the world's most endangered animals. Nearly 1,600 pandas are believed to survive in the wild in China and about 180 are being raised in captivity in zoos worldwide.
VeryHappyPig says when it comes to producing piglets farmers should never use artificial insemination, they should just call VHP!
