THAILAND: Thai zoo teaches panda to mate with "panda porn" video

Thai zoo is showing a porn video to its male panda in hopes he will pick up the tricks of the trade. The Thai zoo, which has had the panda couple for four years, played a ten-minute "panda porn" video for the male to encourage him to mate. The pair -- six-year-old male Chuang Chuang and five-year-old female Lin Hui -- have been living together at the Chiang Mai zoo, about 700 kilometres north of Bangkok, since they arrived from China in 2003. Zoo officials believe the sound in the video will encourage him to mate with his partner. The video has been shown to Chuang Chuang in the evening after the zoo closed. "We trained him to see footage and to listen to the sound for 15 minutes a day, and we've shown him the footage for a week now. He's learned a little bit but hasn't yet fully understood. When he heard the sound he showed some interest. We will train him for one more week," said Sophon Dumnui, director-general of the Zoological Park Organisation. The pair were officially "married" two years ago, but they have so far shown little inclination to mate. Experts believe that separating the two might help and so they have been kept apart since December. China used the video technique with its pandas and succeeded in producing a new cub. According to zoo officials Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui are healthy and ready to mate. Their breeding period will last only 60 hours a year and is usually in January or February. The zoo's previous attempts to help them mate early last year failed.

ITN Source | March 30, 2007

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