THAI ZOO RECYCLES PANDA POOP

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Thai zoo finds gold in giant pandas' dung

Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:12 AM GMT[image: 24]

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BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai zoo has discovered a way to utilise unwanted dung

from a couple of pandas by using it to make paper for souvenirs, the

country's panda project manager said on Tuesday.

 

The zoo had improvised a traditional way of making paper from mulberry trees

in the northern city of Chiang Mai by using bamboo pulp that the pair of

pandas could not digest, Prasertsak Buntrakoonpoontawee said.

 

The pandas, who are fed chopped bamboo, excrete about 23 kg (50 lb) of the

pulp a day, he said.

 

" We know that any kind of pulp can be used to make paper, so we have applied

the 2,000-year techniques of making paper from mulberry tree in this rural

neighborhood to bamboo pulp from panda dung, " Prasertsak said. The zoo had

earned 300,000 baht (4,309 pounds) a year from selling fans, greeting cards,

key chains, book marks -- all with panda faces and made from panda excrement

paper -- and dried panda dung, enough to fund the project, he said.

 

The project would be presented at a four-day international panda conference

in Chiang Mai that started on Monday, drawing 200 wildlife and panda

specialists from around the world.

 

The zoo would also start to separate the pair -- six-year-old male Chuang

Chuang and five-year-old female Lin Hui -- in December in a bid to breed

them in captivity as Chaung Chaung would be shown frank videos of how to

mate, Prasertsak said.

 

($1=36.50 baht)