After panda porn failed to spark amour, Thai zoo authorities turned yesterday to artificial insemination in the hope of impregnating their lone female giant panda.
Authorities at the Chiang Mai Zoo inseminated Lin Hui with semen from her cage-mate, Chuang Chuang, yesterday morning and will repeat the procedure today.
The artificial insemination is a last ditch effort to get Lin Hui pregnant, after videos of pandas having sex failed to entice Chuang Chuang into mating.
PHOTO: AFP
"He just didn't want to mate. He was looking at her as a friend," said Sophon Dummui, director general of Thai Zoo Organization of Thailand which oversees the Chiang Mai Zoo.
"We saw that Chuang Chuang wasn't mating with the female," he said. "If we don't do artificial insemination, then maybe we couldn't have a baby this year. We think the artificial insemination is the best option."
Thailand rented six-year-old Chuang Chuang and five-year-old Lin Hui from China for US$250,000 in October 2003 for 10 years.
Since then, they have tried everything from putting Chuang Chuang on a special diet to holding a mock wedding before resorting to artificial insemination.
Chuang Chuang, who had been deemed too heavy to mate with Lin Hui, lost 7kg after being put on a low-carbohydrate diet.
But despite his new svelte figure, the male did not respond to the 15-minute video clips showing successful panda couplings.
While artificial insemination is being tried on pandas for the first time in Thailand, it has been used for more than 50 years in China.
"We have to wait for about four months from now to see whether the artificial insemination was successful or not," a zoo officialsaid.
The zoo is also considering bringing in a snow machine to help recreate a mountainous habitat.
Giant pandas have a very low fertility rate because they are sexually inactive.
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
RSS