THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Thailand’s seven-month-old giant panda cub, Lin Ping, has generated more than Bt42 million (about $US1.25 million) for the Northern Thailand provincial zoo that aided conception through artificially insemination and have carefully watched over the early months of her life.

Prasertsak Buntragulpoontawee, head of the Panda Research and Display Project at Chiang Mai Zoo, said that since Lin Ping’s (“forest of ice” in Chinese) birth on May 25, more than 700,000 people have visited the zoo.

Mr. Prasertsak said more than Bt26 million ($US779,000) in general admission fees had been raised, with 400,000 people visiting the panda exhibition and generating an additional BT16 million ($US480,000) in revenue.

Mr. Prasertsak said the Chiang Mai Zoo had allocated Bt1 million ($US30,000) from the revenue to cover the food, carer expenses and associated costs for each member of the panda family, while a further Bt8 million ($US240,000) had been used to pay China the annual cost of borrowing the two adult pandas.

The two giant pandas – Xuang Xuang, whose name means “clever” in Chinese and Lin Hui (“beautiful forest”) – are on a four-year loan to the Chiang Mai Zoo and are due to return to China in less than two years.

Following the birth of Lin Ping the Chiang Mai Zoo built a Bt60 million ($US1.78 million) snow house where temperatures are maintained at -5C (23F) or the three mammals and also established the Panda Research Facility.

The popularity of the baby black and white bearlike mammal has seen no bounds, with people traveling from across the kingdom to see it and prompting the Thai government attempting to extend the period the three giant pandas can stay for.

Despite veterinarians at the zoo being unable to encourage the two adult pandas to copulate, including showing them video clips of giant pandas mating, the zoo remains hopeful that through the Panda Research Facility a further pregnancy will occur.

Giant pandas are notorious for their low sex drive and are among the planet’s most endangered animals. There are an estimated 1,600 pandas living in the wild in China and about 180 being raised in zoos worldwide.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for December 30, 2009




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