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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: breeding

breeding stories: 13 news summaries

 Taiwan Panda 
 Keepers Seek 
 Love Doc's Advice  

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, expert counsels

Nov 8, 09 2:51 PM CST
(Newser) - Ahead of breeding season in February, the Taipei Zoo is soliciting expert advice for getting its two giant pandas in the mood. A researcher dispatched from their native China found Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan—presented last year as a symbol of thawing relations between the countries—just a little... More »

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China • breeding • Taiwan • Taipei • Wolong National Nature Reserve • giant pandas • Tuan Tuan • Yuan Yuan • Taipei Zoo

 Pandas Haven't 
 Bounced Back 
 From China Quake 

Sichuan disaster presents lasting difficulties for breeders

May 8, 09 4:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - China’s efforts to save the giant panda from extinction haven’t recovered from last year’s earthquake in Sichuan province, AFP reports. The temblor swallowed up whole groves of bamboo, causing a food shortage just as breeding centers, whose efforts have caused a recent panda “baby boom,”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
breeding • panda • earthquake • Sichuan province • Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center • giant pandas • Chengdu • mating

Cute Dog Craze Yields Dumber, Weaker Breeds

Shift from function
to fashion impairs
dog brains: study

Jan 19, 09 5:35 AM CST
(Newser) - Humans' quest for beautiful, quirky "leash candy" is making man's best friend dumber, weaker, and more introverted, reports the Times of London. Bred less and less to be hunters, guard dogs, and herders, current breeds can do little more than look pretty, a Swedish study of dog behavior has... More »

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breeding • study • dog • inbreeding • dog breeders • animal intelligence

Aha! Zoo Bears Won't Mate Because Both Are Female

Japan park figures out why polar bears don't have much chemistry

Nov 26, 08 1:36 PM CST
(Newser) - A Japanese zoo is learning it might want to check the plumbing more closely the next time it acquires a polar bear cub, CNN reports. Tsuyoshi was brought to the Kushiro Zoo to breed with 11-year-old Kurumi. But when the cub reached reproductive age, he turned out to be she,... More »

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breeding • Japan • zoo • polar bear • gender confusion

Devils Breed Earlier to Stave Off Cancer

Attempt to outlast disease could be evolutionary

Jul 14, 08 8:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tasmanian devils are reproducing at a younger age to offset a contagious cancer epidemic, the Daily Telegraph reports. The ill-tempered marsupials, suffering from tumors that cut their lifespan in half, are now breeding at age 1 instead of 2 or 3. "We could be seeing evolution occurring before our... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • evolution • Australia • breeding • Tasmanian Devil • Tasmania • tumor

 National Zoo's Panda Preggers? 

Hormone levels suggest Mei Xiang may be expecting

Jun 20, 08 11:56 AM CDT
(AP) - The National Zoo in DC says panda mother Mei Xiang is showing a spike in hormone levels, a sign that she might be pregnant again. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated in March with semen from Tian Tian, the zoo's male giant panda. Hormone test results indicate Mei Xiang will either... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pregnancy • breeding • Washington DC • hormones • zoo • panda • National Zoo

You Can Lead a Horse to Mares, But You Can't Make Him Sire

Champion War Emblem isn't so studly

Apr 28, 08 9:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - War Emblem was a champion on the track, winning the 2002 Kentucky Derby, but as a sire, the racehorse is nowhere near as surefooted. Though surrounded by mares, War Emblem hasn't produced a live foal since 2005, and in more than five years at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan has... More »

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breeding • Kentucky Derby • horse racing • War Emblem • Shadai Stallion Station

Berlin Zoo Accused of Selling Animals for Slaughter

Politician says director sold hippo, bear family

Mar 19, 08 2:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - A German politician has filed a criminal complaint against the director of the Berlin Zoo, accusing him of selling animals for slaughter, Der Spiegel reports. The complaint cites examples of a hippopotamus and a family of bears allegedly sold in Belgium. Bernhard Blaszkiewitz vehemently denied the accusations, which he described... More »

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Germany • breeding • Berlin • Berlin Zoo • Green Party • hippopotamus • Bernhard Blaszkiewitz • bear • exotic animals

Olé! Breeder to Clone Prize Bull

US company to copy Alcalde's DNA

Feb 24, 08 2:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Alcalde is one in a million: The hulking black bull's sons have struck fear in the hearts of Spain's bravest matadors for more than a decade. But now, in his waning years, his famed breeder has commissioned a US company to make him two in a million—with the cloned... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Spain • breeding • bulls • bullfighting • Vitoriano del Rio • clone • breeder • matador • animal cloning • Alcalde

Big Stud Fees ≠ Great Racers

Genetics less important than environment, study finds

Dec 19, 07 12:29 PM CST
(Newser) - In horse racing, nurture trumps nature, a study finds. Just 10% of a horse’s winnings can be chalked up to lineage, the BBC reports; offspring of high-priced stallions do perform better overall, but not because of genetics. “People who can afford to pay high stud fees can also... More »

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genetics • breeding • horse racing • horse • stud fees

Panda Couple a Model of Fertility

Famous pair at
San Diego Zoo meet just once a year

Nov 26, 07 10:35 AM CST
(Newser) - Suggesting that quality does best quantity, two of the most reproductively successful pandas in captivity meet—and mate—but once a year, the AP reveals. Since 2003 the San Diego Zoo's Bai Yun and Gao Gao have produced three cubs, a great feat for the endangered species. The youngest... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • endangered species • breeding • zoo • captivity • panda • San Diego Zoo • Bai Yun • Gao Gao

Salmon Made
to Bear Trout

Success shows sterile animals could
become surrogates
for extinct species

Sep 14, 07 6:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - Cue the world’s most peculiar baby announcement: Masu salmon have produced rainbow trout offspring, with an assist from scientists that could lead to the preservation of rare fish species. Trout sperm stem cells had already been injected into salmon embryos to produce salmon with trout sperm; now the same... More »

MORE ABOUT:
breeding • sperm • salmon • eggs • fish • trout

Dog Breeders Deploy DNA Tests

Genetic screening enables breeders to design dogs to suit their needs

Jun 12, 07 8:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - With the first map of a dog genome recently completed, scientists are hot on the trail of  genes for individual canine traits from coat color to cocking their heads in a cutesy way—and dog breeders are right behind them. Without any of the inhibitions attached to eugenics in humans,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
genetics • breeding • genetic screening • genome • eugenics • dog

13 Stories


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