Thailand's famously celibate giant pandas finally produced a cub on Wednesday, after artificial insemination succeeded where attempts to get them to mate using pornography and low-carb diets failed.
Chiang Mai zoo director Thanapath Pongpamorn said eight-year-old female Lin Hui gave birth to a cub weighing an estimated 200 grams (eight ounces), just three months after receiving semen from nine-year-old partner Chuang Chuang.
The pandas, the zoo's star residents, had shown no interest in reproducing the traditional way since they both arrived on a 10-year loan from China in 2003. "This panda cub is a success for artificial insemination and a success for panda breeding in Thailand," Thanapath said.
He said Lin Hui was being very protective of her cub and had not allowed any officials to get close, but they were monitoring her behaviour and said she was "raising her cub well."
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