Chinese Experts to visit Taiwan to aid Giant Panda breeding

November 10, 2009

BR8EIO0

China sends panda expert to Taiwan to aid breeding

(AP) – 1 day ago

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Nothing like a little time apart to rekindle the affections

that could lead to a baby panda.

So says a panda expert sent by China to Taiwan to advise on how to encourage

mating by the pair given by Beijing last December to mark the two sides'

growing friendship.

After inspecting the pandas at the Taipei Zoo on Sunday, Chinese panda

expert Zhang Hemin suggested a separation of a month or two might boost the

feeling of attraction needed to reproduce.

" They may have more interest toward each other after a brief separation, "

said Zhang, a researcher at the Wolong Natural Reserve in western Sichuan

province where the pandas are from.

China presented Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, which together mean " reunion, " to

Taiwan last December amid warming ties between the mainland and the island,

which split amid civil war in 1949.

They have proved popular and many Taiwanese now wish to see them produce a

baby in their new home.

Zhang said the environment at the Taipei Zoo was natural enough and would

not hamper their breeding, but the animals may have become too used to each

others' presence.

Zhang also suggested that to prepare the male, Tuan Tuan, for the vital

mating act, the zookeepers should set up more wooden racks so he can climb

around and strengthen his hind legs.

If all works, the much anticipated act could come during the pandas' brief

mating season in February, Zhang said.

Pandas are threatened by a low reproduction rate. Females in the wild

normally have a cub once every two to three years, and the fertility of

captive giant pandas is even lower, experts say.

Only about 1,600 pandas live in the wild, mostly in China's Sichuan

province. An additional 120 are in Chinese breeding facilities and zoos, and

about 20 live in zoos outside China.

China initially offered the pandas to Taiwan in 2005, but the then

pro-independence government of Chen Shui-bian rejected the gift as

propaganda to push for unification. After Ma Ying-jeou of the rival

Nationalist Party was inaugurated in May last year, he accepted

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