CHINA: U.S.-born panda returns to China to find a mate

Marriage in the works for "Born in America" panda as he returns to boost China's panda breeding programme. A four-year-old male panda born in the United States has returned to China to find a mate on Wednesday (November 7). Mei Sheng (pron: may-sheng), translated as "Born in America", had left his home in the San Diego Zoo on Monday (November 5) and embarked on a cross-continental journey to return to his Chinese roots. Mei Sheng arrived by plane in Chengdu, the capital of China's southwestern province of Sichuan on Wednesday afternoon after spending a night in Shanghai on transit, and he will be transported to the province's Wolong (pron: wor-long) Giant Panda Nature Reserve later in the day. Mei Sheng was flown back to China in a large iron cage stocked with water, apples and bamboo for the twenty hour flight. He was later transferred to a smaller cage in a truck for the road trip back to Wolong. Wolong officials said Mei Sheng has to be returned to China as part of a loan agreement with the United States stating that he would be returned at an appropriate time after he reaches the age of maturity. Mei Sheng is the first panda to be born by natural mating method outside of China and scientists wish he will bring more successes to the country's panda breeding programme in Wolong. "This giant panda has great significance to us because he is the first panda to be born by natural mating in the United States. And he is the first offspring of his father Gao Gao, so he will play an important role in expanding the hereditary gene pool of pandas in Wolong," said Li Desheng, Vice Director of the Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve. Li said that once Mei Sheng reaches Wolong, he will need a few months to adjust to the food and climate before he gets into the process of finding a mate. "In terms of food, there is a difference between bamboo that he eats in the United States and what we have here in Wolong. And there is also a slight difference in the other kinds of food he consumes. Next, in terms of the living environment, San Diego has a warmer climate than us here. So he has to gradually adjust to the climate here," Li added. The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species and is found only in China. An estimated 1,600 wild pandas live in nature reserves in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

ITN Source | November 7, 2007

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