Lin Hui gives birth to baby Panda

Female Panda Lin Hui gave birth to a healthy cub on Wednesday morning at the Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand.


(Photo credits: Reuters)

Chiang Mai zoo director Thanaphat Pongphamon said Lin Hui delivered a cub at 10:10 am. Prasertsak Boontrakulpoonthawee, head of the Panda section, said Lin Hui delivered her baby at 10:39 am. He also said he saw that Lin Hui shook, pushed and delivered the cub.

The sex and weight of the cub were still unknown as Lin Hui would not allow zoo officials near the baby, Mr Thanaphat said. Lin Hui had carried the baby for 93 days and the birth was without complications.

This is considered a big success for Chiang Mai zoo. Despite the best care and encouragement, Lin Hui's partner Xuang Xuang had failed to impregnate her. All efforts to arouse Xuang Xuang's interest in mating had failed, even after showing videos of other pandas mating. He just couldn't nail it - even after all the Panda porn he watched. The pandas' keepers finally resorted to artificial insemination.

The two animals arrived from China over five years ago as part of a panda research program. The loan agreement will see the two pandas and their offspring returned to China after 10 years.

Panda Lin Hui and Chuang Chuang may have a baby soon

Giant pandas Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui at the Chiang Mai Zoo in Thailand may soon have a baby or twins.



"There's a possibility that Linhui might have ovulated twice. She may give births to twins," Zoological Park Organisation director-general Sophon Damnui said Monday.

According to him, two artificial inseminations have just been conducted for the panda couple.

"Every step in the process went on smoothly because we have extensively monitored the pandas' behaviours for a long period of time," Sophon said.



The Chiang Mai zoo has struggled to make its star residents - 9 year old Chuang Chuang and his 8 year old partner Lin Hui - mate since the pair arrived on loan from China in 2003.

Pornography, diets and sperm donation have all failed, but Thai authorities said that a rare cold spell early this year has boosted hopes that the country's famously celibate giant pandas could produce a cub.

Zoo director Thanapath Pongpamorn said temperatures that have fallen as low as four degrees Celsius (39 Fahrenheit) in January have in fact steamed up the pair.

They normally live in a climate-controlled room but they seemed happier with the cold weather.

Thanapath said Lin Hui has shown signs of being ready to mate, including following her partner around, and it has also helped that the cold snap has coincided with the regular mating season.

The cold snap did get them a bit hot and horny.

"Because of the readiness of their physical condition and the weather, we hope we will have good news soon," he said.

Lin Hui received semen from her companion in April 2007 after the pair showed no interest in reproducing the traditional way, but she failed to become pregnant.

The previous year Chuang Chuang, who had been deemed too heavy to mate with Lin Hui, lost seven kilograms (15 pounds) on a low-carbohydrate diet, and was then shown 15-minute video clips of successful panda couplings.

But the panda porn did little to inspire.

Giant pandas, notorious for their low sex drive, are among the world's most endangered animals. Nearly 1,600 pandas are believed to survive in the wild in China and about 180 are being raised in captivity in zoos worldwide.

Giant Panda Xi Xi found alive after Sichuan earthquake

Xi Xi, a giant panda which went missing from the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong after the May 12 Sichuan earthquake was found alive on Monday, May 26, 2008. The protected animal was spotted alive in the woods about 200 meters downstream of a river, and was anesthetized, and sent and caged back to the center. A total of 6 pandas have disappeared from the Wolong center after the quake, 4 of which have been returned but one is still missing.