China sex-expert to help Taiwan pandas to breed

A Chinese panda expert has vowed to lend Taiwan a helping hand after two members of the low-libido species spent nearly a year at Taipei Zoo showing no inclination to breed, local media said Wednesday.

Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong Giant Panda Protection Research Centre in southwest China, will offer advice on how to arouse the sexual instincts of the couple, a gift from China, the Taipei Times reported.

The report did not elaborate, but past techniques to get the endangered species to breed have included panda viagra, panda porn and pelvic-thrust exercises.

When the two pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, arrived from the mainland in December last year as a gift, Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin expressed the hope that they would "have offspring soon," but so far nothing has happened.

Taiwan faces an extra incentive to teach the two pandas about the birds and the bees, as it will be allowed to keep any cubs that they may produce, according to the paper.

China usually loans its pandas to foreign zoos and any progeny must be sent back to China.

China's decision to offer Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan to Taiwan was a symbolic gesture to show improved ties between the former arch enemies, separated since the end of a civil war in 1949.

The two animals were earmarked for the island in 2006, but their arrival was only made possible after Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou took office last year.