Panda Couple a Model of Fertility

Quan Quan, mother of 7, inhaled chlorine and carbon monoxide

(NEWSER) - The death of one of China's most beloved panda bears has been blamed on poison gas resulting from a careless cleaning operation at the Jinan Zoo, the LA TImes reports. Quan Quan, a 21-year-old panda who'd given birth to 7 cubs, inhaled carbon monoxide and chlorine, both of which were used when a former air raid shelter was being disinfected. More»

Cash-strapped owner fed them occasional chicken

(NEWSER) - At least 11 Siberian tigers have starved to death in a Chinese zoo run by an owner strapped for cash. The tigers require 20 pounds of meat a day, but zoo operators only provided the big cats with a chicken carcass every couple of days. Two of the tigers, apparently driven by hunger, attacked a zoo keeper late last year and were shot to death. Earlier, 4 tigers ate a cage mate, and 6 tigers died in a single day. More»

Chinese institute boasts just four births this year

(NEWSER) - The breeding program at China's Chengdu panda institute has produced just four pandas this year. Researchers say the panda mothers are mostly too exhausted to conceive more babies after last year's record 18 births, the Times of London reports. This year's births included twins Wen Li and Ya L, born in July. Wen Li has been this year's troublemaker and has made repeated escape attempts, institute workers complain. More»

(NEWSER) - Giant panda Mei Xiang, whose first cub became an international superstar, is not pregnant, National Zoo officials said today. The panda, who was artificially inseminated in January, experienced her third false pregnancy in as many years, the Washington Post reports. Four-year-old Tai Shan, Mei Xiang's only cub to survive infancy, is scheduled to be handed over to the Chinese government later this year. More»

For so many reasons, these cute bears should probably never have survived

(NEWSER) - Pandas have a lot working against them when it comes to to making babies: a once-yearly ovulation cycle, genetic inbreeding due to a limited captive population, and, apparently, some degree of ineptness at copulation itself. Zoo officials frequently see their excitement crushed by what turn out to be pseudopregnancies, and newborn cubs often don't survive, writes the Washington Post. More»