China for beginners-0247 cut large

Gathering of adolescent giant pandas at the 'falling in love' breeding period...

In the wild, the giant panda is a terrestrial animal and primarly spends his life roaming and feeding in the bamboo forests of the Qinling Mountains and in the hilly Sichuan province. They are generally solitary; each adult has a defined territory and females are not tolerant of other females in their range. Pandas communicate through vocalization and scent marking such as clawing trees or spraying urine.
Social encounters occur primarly during the brief breeding season between March and May in which pandas in proximity to one another will gather. After mating, the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub.

Initially the primary method of breeding giant pandas in captivity was by artificial insemination as they lost their interest in mating once they were captured. This led some scientists to try extreme methods such as showing them videos of giant pandas mating and even giving the males Viagra! Only recently have researchers started having succes with captive breeding programs; the current reproductive rate is considered one young every two years.
If twins are born, usually only one survives in the wild. The mother will select the stronger of the cubs and the weaker will die. It is thought that the mother cannot produce enough milk for two cubs since she does not store fat. The father has no part in helping raise the cub (from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

For an introduction to this travel report www.flickr.com/photos/friedaryckaert/7381896878/