Chinese and American scientists are using the global positioning system (GPS) to monitor the sex behavior of giant pandas in deep mountains.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Zoology and the US Zoological Society of San Diego are joining hands in a three-year giant panda observation program in the Foping Natural Reserve of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, which costs US$660,000.

Wei Fuwen, a senior researcher at the CAS institute, on Monday said, "Giant pandas are inaccessible for long periods of time and traditional observation cannot unravel the ecological mystery of the animals."

Hypogenesis and incretionary disorder make female giant pandas hard to get pregnant. Scientific statistics indicate that 78 percent of female giant pandas are unable to get pregnant while 90 percent of males are sterile.

"Tracking them with advanced technologies and observing their sex activities might help us find ways to avoid their extinction,"Wei acknowledged.

"GPS and other computerized geographical systems could help scientists track movement of the surveyed in different seasons and the animals' behavioral change in different environments."

There are only about 1,000 giant pandas at large throughout the world, all spread throughout southwest and northwest China.

Foping Natural Reserve is one of the key observation bases for wild animals and plants. Since 2003, scientists observed several instances of mating and birth among giant pandas.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2005)