Internet users hoping to catch glimpse of mating pandas
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E-mail China Daily, April 6, 2016
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Panda porn puts them in the mood to mate
Under zoo conditions, giant pandas have generally proved unenthusiastic about mating. Panda researchers in China found out that panda porn would help get giant pandas in the mood for love after an experiment in 2013.
According to the spokesman of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, giant pandas bred in captivity never had the opportunities to see other pandas mating, unlike wild ones.
With 33 pandas on loan from China as of 2014, zookeepers around the world have focused on breeding babies－a notoriously difficult task－as members of the public hold their breath.
In Britain, panda lovers have kept their fingers crossed that a baby cub could be conceived ever since two adults－Tian Tian and Yang Guang－settled in to Edinburgh Zoo in December 2011.
Visitor numbers at the zoo rocketed after the arrival of the pair, and many people have continued to follow their story.
Besides generating a buzz, the zoo also hopes to make important discoveries about panda pregnancy.
Every year, a special team at Edinburgh Zoo devotes itself to ensuring a successful breeding season. The team includes panda experts from China.
After attempts failed to set Tian Tian up with her male counterpart, Yang Guang, she was artificially inseminated. It was attempted for the third time last year, and she was thought to have conceived.
Despite her showing apparent signs of pregnancy, she has failed to produce a cub so far.
It is common for giant panda females to re-absorb a fetus into the womb in the late stages of pregnancy, and experts suspect that may have been the case with Tian Tian.
Australia also hoped its pandas would get pregnant. In 2013, the Adelaide Zoo's giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni failed for the third straight year to achieve pregnancy－both naturally and through artificial insemination. The zoo had to resort to importing panda sperm from overseas in time for next year's breeding season.
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