Pandas: Better at Crowd Pleasing Than Breeding

Chinese car company will pay $150K for DC treasure

(NEWSER) - Giant panda Tai Shan arrived in China today after nearly 5 years in Washington, DC, and found a nice surprise waiting for him: a corporate sponsorship. Sichuan Auto Industry Group will pay $150,000 for a lifelong claim to Tai Shan, along with $90,000 annually for his food and medical costs. The native of the National Zoo will be living at the Bifengxia Panda Base, a facility run by the Chinese government. More»

Washington's Tai Shan and Atlanta's Mei Lan moving to China to breed

(NEWSER) - Washington will bid its favorite panda adieu on Feb. 4, when Tai Shan leaves for China to breed, accompanied by Zoo Atlanta's Mei Lan. “It's like sending off your own child to college,” Tai Shan's fan club founder tells the Post , adding that fan club members have raised $10,000 to “adopt” Tai Shan, born at the National Zoo four years ago, and in return, “They'll send us updates and photographs.” His farewell party is Saturday, with Feb. 3 his last day on view at the zoo. 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»

Experts will monitor captive-born animals in forest

(NEWSER) - Four pregnant giant pandas are on the loose in a forest near the reserve where the captive-bred animals normally live, and they'll be allowed to give birth and raise their offspring there, the Xinhua News Agency reports. "We hope the mothers can teach their cubs life skills to help them survive in the wild," says an expert from the Wolong research center. " All of the carefully chosen pandas have experience of living in the wild." 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»