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Sperm cocktail for panda cubs |
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| GERMANY: March 26, 2004 | ||
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BERLIN - Berlin Zoo's giant panda Yan Yan has moved a step closer to becoming a mother after a delegation of Chinese experts flew in to discuss inseminating her with a cocktail of sperm from several Chinese pandas.
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Six attempts to impregnate the 19-year-old with sperm from her Berlin Zoo companion Bao Bao, 26, all failed and now scientists at the zoo say they want to try a mixture of semen from several Chinese pandas. For one week, experts from Beijing will assess the suitability of Chinese-born Yan Yan and her environment for the project. "At first glance, the outlook is good. At this early stage we are very happy," said Peng Zhenxin, Director of the Giant Panda Research Centre in Beijing. The method has already been used successfully in China, where the research centre has used sperm cocktails to breed 64 cubs, he added. Yan Yan's vet, Andreas Ochs, told Reuters it was extremely difficult to create the right conditions in captivity for natural insemination of the endangered species and had never happened in Yan Yan's case. Pandas are only fertile once a year for 36 hours. "Pandas are solitary animals. We would have to get Yan Yan and Bao Bao together at exactly the right moment, her hormone levels would have to be just right and they would have to show interest in one another in that specific time frame," he said. "It is very dependant on the bears' attitude on the day." Should the cocktail plan get the go-ahead, Yan Yan will be injected with the specially engineered mixture in April.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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