Randy pandas

[marmar]

from the Independent UK:





The very existence of China's pandas has long been threatened. The bears are famously terrible breeders and constantly endangered in their natural habitat. But their numbers have been boosted by a record number of births in captivity this year.

Yo Yo, a giant panda, gave birth to healthy female twins at the Wolong panda research centre in Sichuan province last week, bringing to 19 the number of pandas born at the centre so far this year, already beating the previous record of 18 born in 2006.

"Right now, we're breeding about the same number of pandas each year," Tang Chunxiang, an expert at the Wolong panda reserve, told the Associated Press. "We want to steady the numbers to avoid inbreeding since there are so few pandas."

Mr Tang attributed this year's record number of births to better research on panda nutrition, artificial insemination, genetics and creating a more natural habitat for the pandas to thrive in. Using artificial insemination, researchers have been able to increase the number of animals in captivity to more than 300 in recent years – a number that experts say should remain constant.

The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species and is found only in China. The country's State Forestry
Administration estimates that there are just 1,600 pandas in the wild, mainly in the mountains of Sichuan province. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/record-breeding-year-for-the-bears-who-hate-to-mate-2117403.html