BEIJING - The world's first test tube panda could be born by the year 2001 in a longed for breakthrough to save China's endangered national animal, a senior researcher has said.
China's panda experts, battling hunters, shortages of its favourite arrow bamboo and the animal's poor reproductive capability, have already successfully bred some cubs through artificial insemination. The next step is a test tube panda, and 14 professors, researchers and experienced veterinarians are involved in the project in central Sichuan province, a major panda habitat, the Xinhua news agency said.