THAILAND: A female panda receives artificial insemination after "panda porn" fails to induce her partner to mate

With her six-year-old mate more interested in playing than procreating, and her annual three-day fertile period fast coming to an end, female panda Lin Hui was artificially inseminated by Thai zoo keepers on Monday (April 2). The pandas' sex life has become a matter of public concern ever since the pair were "married" in a Chinese ceremony two years ago. But Chuang Chuang, the male panda at the zoo in Chiang Mai, 700 km north of Bangkok, has so far shown little inclination to consummate the union despite being shown video of "panda porn" aimed at enticing him to mate. The pair, on loan from China and a major attraction at the zoo, have also been kept in different enclosures since December in the hope that separation would fire their passion. "Lin Hui wanted to touch and play with Chuang Chuang but he didn't show any interest in her and sees her as a friend rather than a mate. We decided to artificially inseminate her because she is now ready and if we are too late then there will be no chance of her having a baby," said Sophon Dumnui, head of the state body which supervises the zoo. Male pandas are usually ready to mate at seven and panda experts say that six-old Chuang Chuang is probably still sexually immature. The endangered animals are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity but the video technique of watching other pandas mating was successfully used by China to produce a cub. Now it's a three-month wait to see whether a baby panda is on the way in Chiang Mai. A quirky story.

ITN Source | April 6, 2007

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