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Pastimes : Bear Stories -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldworldnet who wrote (539)	6/2/2006 7:52:05 PM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 6879

Scientists help pandas with their mating issues Updated Wed. May. 31 2006 6:14 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff ctv.ca After years of trying to encourage endangered panda bears to breed in captivity, scientists say they have discovered how to get them in the mood. As with their human friends, scientists say one of the ways to a panda's heart is through its stomach. "We've had 12 pairs get together this spring. We can confidently say this is going to be a good breeding year," Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre director Wang Peng Yan told CTV's Beijing correspondent Steve Chao in China's Sichuan province. The giant panda is clinging to survival, facing loss of habitat, poaching, and a low reproduction rate as its greatest threats. Females in the wild normally give birth to a cub once every two to three years. Indeed, pandas are notorious for their lack of sexual interest and relatively low fertility rate, which is even lower in captivity. They would rather sit placidly and chew bamboo, which they depend on almost exclusively as a food source. Chinese veterinarians in the past have even showed bears videos of mating pandas in the hopes it will prepare them for suitors. But despite their low libido, China's breeding centre reported its most successful results last year with 16 births. "We found out that pandas have psychological needs as well. They not only have to eat well, but live well too. We have a saying breed pandas through a loving heart," Wang told CTV News. For pandas, setting the romantic mood means having the space to roam free, roughhousing with their friends, taking the odd nap, and of course, their favourite pastime -- chewing bamboo. The panda bear, China's unofficial mascot, has won the hearts of people the world over, including that of Ontario veterinarian Paul Schuster. In fact, Schuster took a significant salary cut to move his family to China for a chance to care for these animals. "It's amazing, the first time I ever came in, it was hard to imagine that I was actually working with and touching a live panda," Schuster said. Scientists at the panda centre marked a major milestone in April, when they released a panda bred in captivity into the wild for the first time. Xiang Xiang, a four-year-old male raised at the panda centre, was trained for almost three years before he was released into the wild. The 176-pound bear will be tracked by a global positioning device attached to his collar. There are only about 1,600 wild pandas in the mountain forests of central China -- the only place in the world they are found -- while more than 180 live in captivity. Experts from the World Wildlife Fund have said that preserving panda habitats will help to ensure the animal's continued survival. * * *