Hua Mei had no idea she had been set up on four "blind dates" nor that she would take a special course on sex education -- but she did realize that life would be different when she arrived at her new house in the famed Wolong Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

 

After a 30-day quarantine, this US-born giant panda left her temporary home in a mountain valley in Bailonggou, one kilometer from the center, and joined 210 other pandas in the center, including 140 in the wild and 70 in captivity.

 

This four-and-half-year-old creature seemed to be excited and curious about the new environment and kept looking around after entering her new home, which consists of a 120-sq-m hillside field encircled by an iron fence, and a 16-sq-m log cabin, installed with heating facilities.

 

"Our vets are carrying out routine checks on her every day, to check her breath, droppings, appetite and mood," said Wei Rongping, assistant director of the research center. "The results show Hua Mei is healthy and in good spirits. She gained 10 more kilograms after coming back to China and weighs 104 kilograms now."

 

"To meet the four mates is the most important thing for Hua Mei after the quarantine period and we hope she can get pregnant by the end of March -- but first of all, she should have some sexual education," said Wei.

 

The female panda in captivity is normally sexually mature at three due to better conditions but their bodies are not ready to have babies, so researchers usually arrange mating when they are four years old. Pandas in captivity at Wolong are usually in heat from March to May, said Wei.

 

"So, Hua Mei is pretty much a virgin right now and being in captivity since she was born, her parents never taught her the knowledge in this field," said Wei.

 

According to the plan, Hua Mei will not only be shown sex education videos featuring a couple of giant pandas mating, but will also be brought to the site to watch her peers mating, said Wei.

 

The sex education lessons are becoming standard for all giant pandas as they attain adulthood at the center as well as the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in Sichuan Province.

 

Research results show that giant pandas have a relatively low fertility rate, which is tremendously impaired in captivity. For long periods, more than 60 percent of adult male giant pandas in protection areas or zoos lack any sexual desire. Only 10 percent of them are capable of natural mating. Only 30 percent of female giant pandas become pregnant and give birth.

 

Many male pandas need training, as they seem indifferent to the overtures of the females. This has resulted in declining sexual activity among giant panda couples. Successful breeding is mostly achieved through artificial insemination.

 

Initial results show the sex education lessons are working. Some pandas in Wolong completed their first natural mating after receiving a long period of sex education.

 

"We hope it will be also useful for Hua Mei and if all things go smoothly, she will give birth -- also the best gift to us – in September this year," said Wei.

 

Hua Mei's four mates, including 15-year-old Zhuang Zhuang, 11-year-old Xi Meng, 12-year-old Da Di and 10-year-old Di Di, are all in a very good condition.

 

"I do not know which of them will be lucky enough to mate our princess. It's all up to Hua Mei to find her own 'Mr. Right'," said Wei.

 

Hua Mei, whose name means "China-America," was born in 1999 and set foot in China for the first time upon her arrival in Beijing as a VIP on Feb. 12, after a 10-hour flight.

 

Though her mother Bai Yun, or "White Clouds," remained in San Diego, California, Hua Mei will meet her father Shi Shi, or "Lovely Stone," who returned last year. Bai Yun will continue to live in the United States with another male Gao Gao, or "Tall," and their one-year-old son Mei Sheng, or "American Born."

 

Hua Mei's parents went to the United States in 1996 as part of a 12-year research cooperation program between the two nations. The male was about ten years older than the female and was repatriated last year after six years abroad.

 

Under the cooperation contract, cubs of pandas abroad belong to China and should be returned after they are three years old.

 

Altogether 24 giant pandas were given by China to nine countries in the 26 years from 1957 to 1982.

 

China has input considerable resources into protecting the endangered species. Their numbers have been depleted by low fertility, logging, poaching and the periodic withering away of their staple food, bamboo. Only approximately 1,000 giant pandas are estimated to live in the wild, all in China, while some 160 live in captivity around the world.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2004)