JAPAN: SCIENCE STEPS IN WHERE ROMANCE FAILS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL PANDA COUPLE AT UENO ZOO

Record ID: 861835

  • Title: JAPAN: SCIENCE STEPS IN WHERE ROMANCE FAILS FOR CROSS-CULTURAL PANDA COUPLE AT UENO ZOO
  • Date: 1st March 2004
  • Summary: (L!1)TOKYO, JAPAN (FEBRUARY 25, 2004) (REUTERS) MORE OF PEOPLE IN FRONT OF SHUAN SHUAN'S CAGE SHUAN SHUAN WALKING UPRIGHT SIGN READING 'GIANT PANDA, SHUAN SHUAN' MORE OF SHUAN SHUAN (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese) TAKADA SUZUKI, VISITOR, SAYING: "I don't generally agree with artificial insemination, as I think these things should be left alone to nature, in the case of these pandas, where they are endangered, I think it can't be avoided. I just hope a bouncing baby panda is born soon," (SOUNDBITE)(Japanese) KAORU SUZUKI, (UNRELATED TO ABOVE), SAYING: "I think its great what they did. We all want to see a baby Panda, don't we," LING LING IN HIS CAGE SLEEPING
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA846ZEV3DPLBGRY3Q8TO7UDFDI
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Science steps in where romance fails for a cross-cultural Panda couple in Tokyo.
    It was a union that officials at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo hoped would bear them a rare baby panda.
    But 16-year-old Giant Panda Shuan Shuan, on loan from Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico, proved to be a tough lady to woo.
    After months of trying by both parties and the zoo keepers, science had to take over and Chinese born 18-year-old Ling Ling had to be sent back to his pen empty handed.
    "Ling Ling is of a rather shy nature, and while this this year we tried to over come his reserved nature by bringing the female here, I think he was just too scared of Shuan Shuan. So as the timing was right (for Shuan Shuan) we stepped in with artificial insemination," said Ueno Zoo curator Teruyuki Komiya.
    Shuan Shuan had just shown signs of coming on heat. As that happens only once a year for a few days, they had little time to waste with Shuan Shuan and Ling Ling not getting along.
    The operation seemed at this point to have been a success. But the final results of whether the fertilised egg has become an embryo, and then potentially a baby will not be known until July.
    Shuan Shuan came to Tokyo in December after Ling Ling made three visits to Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, where attempts at natural mating and artificial insemination both failed.
    The news of the panda's insemination drew the attention of the public who were sympathetic to the panda's plight.
    "I don't generally agree with artificial insemination, as I think these things should be left alone to nature, in the case of these Pandas where they are endangered I think it can't be avoided. I just hope a bouncing baby Panda is born soon," said Takada Suzuki, one of the visitor at the zoo on Wednesday (February 25).
    "I think its great what they did. We all want to see a baby Panda, don't we," said Kaoru Suzuki, (unrelated to above), another visitor to the zoo.
    There are only 800 to 1,000 pandas left in the wild, and they are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity.
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