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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Pandas: Better at Crowd Pleasing Than Breeding

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

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(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.

The four US zoos with pandas have spent lavishly on them, including $35 million in rental fees to China. That rental deal means that the young Tai Shan, whose birth was a coup for the National Zoo, will soon be headed back to China. But the National Zoo doesn't mind the high price: "We lost money on Apollo, too, you know."

In this April 24, 2007 file photo, Tai Shan, the popular giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, munches on bamboo in Washington.
In this April 24, 2007 file photo, Tai Shan, the popular giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, munches on bamboo in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
National Zoo's panda Mei Xiang sleeps with her feet up in the air on a hot sunny day, Thursday, June 7, 2007, at the National Zoo in Washington.
National Zoo's panda Mei Xiang sleeps with her feet up in the air on a hot sunny day, Thursday, June 7, 2007, at the National Zoo in Washington.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
This Dec. 22, 2005 file photo provided by the National Zoo shows Tai Shan, the giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, with his mother Mei Xiang at the zoo in Washington.
This Dec. 22, 2005 file photo provided by the National Zoo shows Tai Shan, the giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, with his mother Mei Xiang at the zoo in Washington.   (AP Photo/ Jessie Cohen, National Zoo)
This handout photo provided by the Smithsonian's National Zoo shows Giant pandas Tian Tian, front, and Mei Xiang spending their morning wrestling.
This handout photo provided by the Smithsonian's National Zoo shows Giant pandas Tian Tian, front, and Mei Xiang spending their morning wrestling.   (AP Photo/Smithsonian's National Zoo, Jessie Cohen)
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You can wake up and read a newspaper in the morning, or go to the zoo and watch a baby panda. - Craig Salvas, a NASA employee and bigtime panda fan, explaining why he has snapped thousands of pictures of Tai Shan

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3 comments
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TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 5, 09 5:14 PM CDT
Their success at this sounds suspiciously similar to mine... what's up with that? Reply
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SPH
Apr 6, 09 2:15 AM CDT
Pandas are not indigenous to North America anyway...Send them all back to China and let the Chinese deal with the world scrutiny for the pandas survival....$35M for "rental" is absolutely ridiculous.... Reply
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radnip
Apr 7, 09 3:31 AM CDT
Wish humans could learn something about the low panda birth rate. Reply
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