------Program code: NS-081015-04015 (what's this?)
Source: CCTV.com
10-15-2008 12:02
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Hu’niu is a wild female panda that’s six years old, living in the deep forest of Qinling. She is mature and well-developed. It’s the estrous period for pandas, which occurs every year from March to April. Recently, Hu’niu appeared restless and walked around looking for a male panda that she likes. She rubbed up against the trunk with her bottom and left her odor to attract male pandas.
Yong Yan’ge is a well-known expert in panda research. In his 30 years of work, he has unveiled many secrets about pandas and put forward valuable recommendations to save the pandas. However, he dissatisfied with his achievements.
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Two male pandas were attracted by the odor of Hu’niu. There was a fight between them and only one would get the right to mate with her.
The two pandas were well-matched in strength. They faced off for half an hour and neither dared to give up.
Finally, the winner gained the right to mate with Hu’niu. Strangely, she didn’t like him. She found that the winner was too old and she didn’t want to mate with him. She resisted the old panda. It was dangerous for her to do this. Because he may seek revenge against her.
The old male panda was taken aback and Hu’niu used it as a chance to escape.
Across another ridge, Hu’niu met up with a younger and stronger male panda. Hu’niu liked this panda and moved closer to him. But he wasn’t interested and showed his indifference to her.
Hu’niu felt a little worried and showed her feelings to him. But he became angry and beat her.
Hu’niu ran away fast enough to escape attack.
Hu’niu seemed depressed by this experience. First, she was pestered by an old panda and escaped only after considerable effort.
Then, she was attacked by the younger one for showing him affection. Hu’niu gave up and returned to the cave to rest.
On March 26, 2003 Tang Dengyin, a ranger at Foping Nature Reserve, patrolled the mountain with an intern from Peking University. They needed to observe more closely the estrous period. Suddenly, they heard the cry from a panda.
It was Hu’niu’s cry. She felt she had to do more than use her odor to attract males. So she climbed a big tree and cried loudly to get their attention.
On hearing the cry, Tang Dengyin and Li Yu ran quickly to the temporary camping base and told Yong Yan’ge.
Yong Yan’ge knew it was a good opportunity to witness breeding in the wild. He had Pu Chunju, who was a good runner to go first.
Pu Chunju was famous for walking on the mountain. It would take him only half a day to walk through a mountain path that would take others one day. Usually, it takes him over an hour to run a 5 mile mountain path with a ridge of 200 meters high. But, it took only 40 minutes.
Across the ridge, Pu Chunju saw something for the first time. Two male pandas were fighting each other and Hu’niu was cheering them on.
Pu Chunju quickly filmed the scene. Also, he noticed another two male pandas hiding in the tree and jungles. These two pandas were the losers.
Hu’niu successfully attracted four male pandas. The two pandas were fighting for the chance to mate with her. Hu’niu looked very excited and cried loudly to cheer them on. It was the first time they observed this type of mating ritual.
After a short and fierce fight, a young and strong male panda won. He began to patrol his territory around. Other male pandas hiding on the tree escaped away quickly.
Yong Yan’ge soon arrived. They were very happy to see this.
It was Hu’niu that was emitting this strong smell. It could be spread far in the wind. Hu’niu looked very satisfied with this winner panda.
It is difficult for the captive male panda to mate successfully because of limits in their generative organs. The captive male panda was trying to mate with the female one on the wall but fell down. Is there the same limit in generative organs for the wild pandas? Would Hu’niu mate successfully?
The male panda tried again but failed. He walked down the hillside and Hu’niu followed him up. Then we discovered their breeding secret for the first time.
Hu’niu was right to choose this excellent male panda. His actions showed it wasn’t difficult for wild pandas to mate and breed.
It proved that the physical quality of the wild pandas is much better than that of captive ones.
Hu’niu was able to mate today.
The male panda left and started looking for a new mate.
In order to have strong offspring, Hu’niu worked hard to find the best mate. She had to compete with other females. It showed the wild pandas breeding hadn’t declined, which is further proven in research we’ll soon hear about.
In 2003, Professor Wei Fuwen of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy Sciences and his doctoral students adopted a new method for sample surveys in Wanglang National Nature Reserve of Sichuan Province.
The wild panda population in Sichuan, Shanxi and Gansu numbered about 1700 in the third survey in 2000. Wei Fuwen made new discoveries in their survey in Wanglang National Nature Reserve.
This surprised Wei Fuwen. He wondered if they had underestimated the number of wild pandas. According to their survey, there may be 2,000 to 3,000 pandas living in the wild. This caught the attention of zoologists all over the world. After some time monitoring and surveying, Wei Fuwen discovered the pandas’ breeding rate was not as low as imagined.
Hu’niu successful mating is an example of the prosperous future of wild pandas.
Editor:Yang