Pandas baby boom brightens future » Adelaide Zoo

Pandas baby boom brightens future
04-08-2008

AdelaideNow... Pandas baby boom brightens future

08-08-2008

What is going to happen longterm to all these young Pandas being born in China's breeding stations? Somewhere I heard/saw/read that they can't /won't be used in release projects and will remain in captivity their whole lives.

Does this mean more Giant Pandas will appear in both Chinese and Western Zoos in due course?

09-08-2008

Interesting point, as they do have a very succesfull breeding program.
I bet that the foreign zoos will not be prepared to pay the big bucks if too many zoos have pandas. 6 zoos outside China now. With Adelaide adding to the list shortly. Never would have thought Adelaide would be the Australian zoo to get a semi perment pandas. I am sure Aleaxnder Downer had allot to do with this. He always seemed to like teddy bears

Correct me if l am wrong butt is the number app 500 individuals as a base group for genetic diversity with mammals. Will be intersting how China handles this over the coming years.

btw on isis what is the differance?? <<<group heading>>>

Ailuropoda melanoleuca <<< Group >>>
Giant panda

and

Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Giant panda

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Stuart R Webster
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09-08-2008

A recent article in International Zoo News by Jonas Livet who visited China in 2007 states that at the Giant Panda Breeding facilities there were over 20 at Bifengxia Base , Chengdu Base about 50 and Wolong nearly 100 . About 30 had been bred in both 2006 and 2007 with much use of artificial insemination , the majority being hand-reared .

With 2008 births that makes a lot of pandas !

09-08-2008

If Giant Panda breeding is now quite sucsessful why should overseas zoo's exhibit them on long-term loans have to pay China around $1,000,000 for each animal a year? They have everyone elses animals so why cant it just be trade off permanent deals... Even if foreign zoo's breed the animals China takes them back and gets the naming rights which I think sucks, especially for the keepers who put in all the hard yards! Take for instence SDZ it has bred 3 or 4 panda's yet still have to do the long-term loans and probably loyalty payments which I think is a bit greedy of China...

09-08-2008

I would call China too greedy if I were you...we dont see too many Platypus or Tassie Devils over here. I could see a price reduction, but not by much...maybe 1 mill for a pair each year. Im surprised more countries dont setup similar programs from their high profile species. I have a feeling that China may fill its own zoos with pandas before mass shipments begin circling the globe. There are a lot of zoos in China to serve over 1 billion people! But that doesnt mean that we wont see an increase of foreign loans of giant pandas.

09-08-2008

Platypus are not an endangered species and are a relitively hard species to keep in captive Australia is still fine-tuning thier captive husbandry, breeding is a working progress and another story...

Tasmanian Devils have recently been classified as Endangered species due to the highly contagious facial tumors and a number of breeding programme is underway in Australia as to research into this deadly disease...

In the case of Giant Panda's China has 239 in captivity and another 27 living outside the country. It also estimated that around 1,590 pandas are currently living in the wild. However, a 2006 study, via DNA analysis, estimated that there might be as many as 2,000 to 3,000 pandas in the wild.

The standard loan terms include a fee of up to US$ 1,000,000 per year and a provision that any cubs born during the loan are the property of the People's Republic of China. Since 1998, due to a WWF lawsuit, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service only allows a U.S. zoo to import a panda if the zoo can ensure that China will channel more than half of its loan fee into conservation efforts for wild pandas and their habitat

So where does the rest go? This only accounts for US loans, What will happen with Australia's fee's? I dont think it's really fair... You also have to add on the food, enclousures, health and the countless other needs!