Sex show anticlimax as Lin Bing fails to pander to mate

GLOBAL audiences might be disappointed after two pandas failed to mate in a matchmaking arranged for the first live broadcasting of the process by a Chinese TV network this weekend.

The panda breeding process is largely a mysterious enterprise to the public, but the live broadcast, which lasted just over 50 minutes, showed panda breeders introduce female giant panda Lin Bing to male Wu Gang.

But Wu Gang acted in a hostile manner towards Lin Bing, which had displayed the normal signs of being in heat, reported China Daily.

“Male pandas can be picky about their mates, and when they don’t like the partner, they will show symptoms similar to sexual apathy,” said Luo Bo, a breeder from Bifengxia Panda Centre, where the filming took place.

Bifengxia Panda Centre lies in the city of Ya’an in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

The mating attempt was broadcast live online by China Network Television’s iPanda channel and the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Pandas.

Pandas’ mating season runs from March to May, when giant pandas compete for female attention. But captive pandas often struggle with insemination, getting pregnant and taking care of their cubs.

The iPanda channel — ipanda.cntv.cn — said it would broadcast live other natural mating attempts between other pandas.