Haha, must be Pertinax! Would you be able to elaborate on the reasons, as I have never heard of them before?
That does make sense, but there were also two other first generation 'gifts' and a second generation in Europe at the time (that doesn't include Hsing-Hsing in Washington and whatever was in Ueno at the time) which all could have done with being represented in the bloodline, which begs the question why other animals were not tried when Bao-Bao and Ming-Ming proved uncompatable, or at least why AI attempts were not made. I guess the answer is money, though..
which begs the question why other animals were not tried when Bao-Bao and Ming-Ming proved uncompatable, or at least why AI attempts were not made. I guess the answer is money, though..
I imagine the reasons other males weren't tried was money, plus ZSL had plenty of other problems at the time- like near-closure. AI? Not sure it was really a proven method in the West at that time? I often think male Pandas should be moved around more to give an oestrus female a choice of more than one partner. As happens in the wild where several males congregate near the female at mating time. In zoos there is probably less stimulus with only a single pair, and if natural mating fails, or the attempt is bypassed, they move straight on to AI. But again, its the cost of moving additional males around that is the reason.
It is sad to recall that ZSL not only owned "Chia Chia" outright, but also his offspring: "Chu Lin". who was bred, and died, in Madrid having never seen a female other than his mother, and "Tohui", who must be about 23 now in Mexico City, and has never been paired with a male.
Whatever the difficulties, these animals were zoological gold-dust and represented a real chance for ZSL to get a viable pair from China. It is a terrible shame that the opportunity was missed.
I would have assumed Chu-Lin and Xin-Xin (both Chia-Chia's offspring) were/are owned half by London unless you know something I don't and there was an agreement in place for them to have all the rights to the animals?
Pertinax - I agree with your financial point, and it was probably why artificial insemination wasn't tried either. Although not as common as it was now, Chu-Lin was 99% likely to be fathered by AI, and I'm sure Xin-Xin was also. Shame.
