China?s giant pandas have become ?spoilt?
BEIJING: Giant pandas in China's research centres have become "spoilt" because of the extra care taken by experts while dealing with the lovable creatures which were once on the brink of extinction.
Experts said pandas should be given "less care" than they are, because it may prevent them from adapting to life in the wild. "It is unfair to breed the animals in captivity like pets," Zhang Jinyuan, deputy head of the Beijing Zoo , was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily.
Most panda cubs begin life in an incubator, far from the natural touch of their mothers. The pandas do not even have to mate when they get older - artificial insemination ensures they will reproduce.
At the Wolong Panda Breeding Research Base , in Sichuan province, a third of the base's female pandas and two-thirds of its males have shown no interest in mating.
"During the mating season, they failed to seek out partners on their own," Zhang Hemin said.
Experts said pandas should be given "less care" than they are, because it may prevent them from adapting to life in the wild. "It is unfair to breed the animals in captivity like pets," Zhang Jinyuan, deputy head of the Beijing Zoo , was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily.
Most panda cubs begin life in an incubator, far from the natural touch of their mothers. The pandas do not even have to mate when they get older - artificial insemination ensures they will reproduce.
At the Wolong Panda Breeding Research Base , in Sichuan province, a third of the base's female pandas and two-thirds of its males have shown no interest in mating.
"During the mating season, they failed to seek out partners on their own," Zhang Hemin said.
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