CHINA: Chinese scientists are increasingly concerned about the giant panda's lack of interest in breeding in captivity, and researchers reckon cloning may save the cuddly black and white bear from extinction, writes Clifford Coonan in Beijing
The world's biggest panda cell bank has been established in Chengdu in the south-eastern province of Sichuan, containing the cells of 21 living pandas and five dead ones. The plan is to expand the cell bank's collection to include the cell samples of all the 161 pandas living in reserves around China, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Zoos and conservationists have taken some drastic steps to get the panda 'in the mood' before, including showing the bears what some have termed "panda porn" - videos of other pandas having sex. The videos are used because, although animals normally learn about reproduction from watching other animals, in zoos the pandas have no role models to follow.
There are even unconfirmed reports of the use of "panda Viagra" to expedite matters.
A survey by the conservation organisation WWF, which has a panda as its logo, and Chinese officials in June discovered nearly 1,600 pandas living in the wild in China, a rise of over 40 per cent.
Jim Harkness of WWF said: "Pandas have no trouble breeding in the wild, and they're breeding better than ever in captivity. The main threat to pandas is not their ability to breed but the destruction of their natural habitat through logging and poaching."