| They're cute and cuddly but sadly they | | | | World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on captive |
| can't get it up! Yes, Virginia, even | | | | pandas' aversion to sex. |
| pandas suffer from impotence and nothing | | | | "Barely a quarter of adult pandas in |
| it seems can help these furry animals | | | | captivity are breeding, and the few that |
| mate. Not even Viagra! | | | | do are not contributing to the survival |
| This was reported by Chinese officials | | | | of their wild relatives," added BBC News |
| who said that the creature's innate | | | | environment correspondent Alex Kirby. |
| modesty may prove to be its undoing. | | | | In the 1990s, authorities experimented |
| Authorities are alarmed that the shy | | | | with Chinese medicine to boost the |
| pandas may soon be extinct unless they | | | | pandas' dwindling sex drive. Zhang |
| have sex soon. | | | | Hemin, director of the Wolong Nature |
| For years, scientists have struggled to | | | | Reserve in the central province of |
| boost the dwindling panda population | | | | Sichuan, said the herbal medicine worked |
| that now numbers less than a thousand. | | | | but it also made the males hot-tempered |
| Poaching and loss of habitat have | | | | that the experiment had to be |
| greatly reduced the number of pandas | | | | discontinued. |
| worldwide. The few that inhabit China | | | | Scientists then turned to the |
| face extinction due to their celibate | | | | anti-impotence drug Viagra, hoping it |
| nature. | | | | would have the same effect in pandas. |
| "Pandas, which have relatively low | | | | Pandas normally mate for about 30 |
| fertility rates even in the wild, lose | | | | seconds and Viagra could reportedly |
| virtually all interest in sex once they | | | | extend that to 20 minutes. |
| are in captivity," according to BBC | | | | Unfortunately, that didn't work either. |
| News. | | | | Sixteen-year-old male panda Zhuang |
| Researchers are at a loss to explain | | | | Zhuang (Chinese for "Strong Strong") |
| this strange behavior. Some say | | | | took the drug but nothing happened. Wang |
| captivity prevents them from indulging | | | | Pengyan, deputy director of the reserve, |
| in elaborate mating rituals. Others | | | | said he had no intention of giving |
| believe they are not interested in | | | | Viagra to other pandas although others |
| mating with partners chosen for them. | | | | believe Zhuang Zhuang wasn't a good |
| Still, others say all they want is a | | | | candidate. |
| little privacy and the attention they're | | | | "You can't say Viagra has no results on |
| getting from the public is not good for | | | | pandas. We used the wrong panda. That |
| them. | | | | panda basically has no capability," said |
| "Who would want to mate in front of an | | | | Guo Feng, a scientific researcher at |
| audience?" asked Sally Nicholson of the | | | | Wolong. |