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Asiad: China to put panda cubs on display

Afp
Saturday 30 October 2010 00:00 BST
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China's top panda breeding centre will send six panda cubs to the southern city of Guangzhou, where they will be displayed during the Asian Games next month, state press said Monday.

Two female and four male panda cubs - all born in 2009 - will be sent before the end of the month to the Panyu Endangered Animal World in the Guangzhou suburbs, China National Radio reported.

Panyu is the site of the Asian Games Village, where up to 15,000 athletes and coaches from some 45 nations will reside during the November 12-27 event.

The pandas were born at the Wolong Panda Research Centre, China's top facility for the breeding of the endangered species, located in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered species, with about 1,600 living in the wild and over 300 bred in captivity at zoos. They have a notoriously low libido, which has frustrated efforts to boost their numbers.

But in recent years dozens of pandas have been born in captivity, with at least 16 born in Wolong this year as of September, according to the state press.

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