Artificial insemination led to the successful birth of more
pandas last year in China than ever before.
A record 21 cubs survived from breeding programs, according to
the latest statistics released yesterday by the State Forestry
Administration (SFA).
Sixteen of the newborn pandas are mainly living in the Wolong
Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in the southwestern
Sichuan Province, with the rest kept in captivity in other research
institutions in Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan, Luoguantai
in China's Shaanxi Province and Beijing Zoo.
To date, the number of giant pandas kept in captivity amounts to
183, with 54 percent in Wolong, and about a quarter in Chengdu.
There are also 24 others kept in nine zoos in the United States,
Japan, Germany, Austria and Thailand for research and other
projects.
"Despite the early deaths of a few baby pandas, 2005 has
witnessed the largest number of surviving newborn pandas in China's
history of artificial fertilization on the rare species," said Na
Chunfeng, an official with SFA.
Na attributed the achievement to Chinese scientists. "They have
acquired mature technologies and valuable experience after years of
hard work," he said.
Giant pandas show little instinctive behavior in captivity,
especially sexual desire, essential for natural mating and
conception.
Forestry authority statistics show fewer than 10 percent of male
giant pandas mate naturally and fewer than 30 percent of females
conceive naturally.
Female pandas normally enter estrus aged four or five and have
only one chance for pregnancy a year. After 160 days of pregnancy,
they deliver only one or two cubs, according to Zhang Zhihe, head
of the Chengdu-based Giant Panda Breeding Center.
In the past 12 years, scientists at the Wolong center have
solved major problems relating to the breeding of giant pandas.
Zhang and his team have worked hard for years to tackle the
endangered animals' breeding problems. Artificial fertilization led
to the birth of nine cubs in 2000, 12 in 2001, 10 in 2002 and 15 in
2003. The number of giant pandas increased from 1,114 before 2000
to the present 1,596, living in habitats covering more than 23,000
square kilometers.
(China Daily January 2, 2006)