Female giant pandas at Southwest China's Sichuan Wolong Research Base have recently found, presumably to their pleasure, that their male partners have been becoming more sexually aggressive.
The females, most of which have to depend on artificial insemination to get pregnant, should thank the Chinese giant panda experts at the base for the improved performance of their "lovers."
Finding a way to arouse the sexual desire and performance of the male giant pandas is regarded by researchers as the key to increasing the fertility rates of the species, one of the oldest but also the most endangered animals on the earth. However, scientists have not been very successful go-betweens in the past.
This time, researchers at the base have tried a series of new measures, one of which is playing an "X-rated" scene for the bears depicting mating.
All the adolescent males at the base watch the "performance" every day, apparently with pleasure. Researchers said the males show signs of excitement while watching the film.
Didi, a six-year-old male, has watched many such films and received other forms of "sex education" this year. He has been demonstrating quite strong sexual desire and is expected to mate next year, according to researchers.
"The aim is to arouse the sexual instinct of the pandas and strengthen their ability to have natural sexual intercourse," said Zhang Hemin, head of the research base.
Research shows that the giant panda's mating instincts are quite poor, and those reared in pens show little interest in sexual activity, presumably because they have less opportunity for physical exercise than their wild counterparts.
More than 60 percent of the adult male giant pandas living in domestic and overseas bases or zoos have no sexual desire at all. And only 10 percent of them show interest in mating naturally, which means that only 30 percent of the females have a chance to become naturally pregnant.
In addition, many male giant pandas seem to have little knowledge of mating practices, and they are becoming less and less sexually active.
The declining ability of giant pandas to mate naturally, especially the males, has become a major factor in the animal's dangerous situation today.
(China Daily June 27, 2002)
