China’s first panda cub born through natural mating this year
Beijing: A seven-year-old giant panda has given birth to a cub through natural mating at a breeding centre in China for the endangered species, becoming the first to be born this way in the country this year. The giant panda gave birth to a cub on Saturday at China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Pandas (CCRCGP).
Keepers do not know which male fathered the cub, or the gender of the new addition. This is the mother’s, Shuqin, first cub. She showed strong maternal and nursing instincts, by immediately cuddling the cub and hiding it from keepers after her delivery.
The keepers could only judge that the cub was healthy as they heard it crying, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. This is the first panda cub born as a result of natural mating in the centre this year. Luo Bo, deputy director of the centre, said Shuqin mated with two male pandas — Jinke and Xiangge — in March. On June 19, their was a noticeable change to her appetite, a sign of pregnancy on pandas. Keepers have monitored Shuqin since July 13.
Most giant pandas in captivity are not good breeders. China has developed supportive breeding techniques to sustain the critically endangered species.
However, only 24 per cent of females in captivity give birth, posing a serious threat to the survival of the species. Panda cubs born through supported breeding are often born in twins or even sometimes triplets. It is currently panda reproduction season.
Experts at the centre said they have gone to great lengths to take care of the mothers and their cubs. There are currently three other female pandas — Xidou, Cuicui and Meixi — showing signs of pregnancy in the centre.
The centre says it lets the pandas attempt natural mating first, and if they are not successful, they try supported breeding. Sometimes when a panda gets pregnant, keepers don’t know whether it is from natural or supported mating. A cub’s bloodline is later ascertained through a DNA test. (PTI)
Mexican taxi driver seeks to ride Pokemon Go craze
Mexico City: A Mexican taxi driver has jumped on the Pokemon GO craze sweeping the world by driving smartphone-armed customers around in search of the augmented reality game’s target creatures.
The mobile phone game has become an instant hit with more users in the United States than Twitter a week after launch.
Players are spending longer on the application than they do with some of the most popular social platforms such as Instagram or WhatsApp.
The Nintendo Co game is not yet available in Mexico, but some users have worked out how to access the game.
To play the augmented reality mobile phone game players must physically walk or drive around in the real world to capture Pokemon creatures. Emilio Cacho, a 29-year-old cab driver from the city of Minatitlan in the eastern state of Veracruz, said he began offering services as a ‘Pokemon hunter’ on Monday and has received more than 20 calls since the start of the week. “I didn’t know about the game, but I heard a lot of talk about people going out to look for Pokemons, so I thought it was a good way to make money, now that the economic situation in Veracruz is so difficult,” he said by telephone. He charges 130 pesos ($7.04) for the first hour to pursue Pokemons, then 100 pesos for each subsequent hour, he said. (AP)
China’s 1st robot parking lot to be ready in October
Beijing: China’s first parking lot, that will use an automated guided vehicle (AVG) robot to park the cars in just two minutes, will open in east China’s Nanjing in October, the robot maker said on Sunday.
Drivers guide their cars on to the laser-guided AGV robot which is in the shape of a movable platform, and it places the vehicle in an available port. Shenzhen-based Yeefung Automation Technology Co. Ltd. said the robot can transfer a car into a carport in about two minutes.
Wu Hao, Yeefung general manager, said the company developed the robot in response to limited parking in big cities across the world.
He said the robot will help new and experienced drives alike. AGV robots can maximise parking space in lots by around 20-40 per cent. Although adding such a robot would give an extra cost of 70,000 yuan (USD 10,465) to each carport, it would help operators earn profits by improving efficiency, Wu was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency. China has about 172 million vehicles on its road. Based on an annual increase of 19 million units, there will be 250 million vehicles on China’s road in 2020. Pan Guofan, deputy director of the Guangzhou Parking Association, said smart parking technology will help improve efficiency rather than providing a solution to the lack of parking space in cities. He said parking space should be a major consideration of urban planning, and local authorities should build more multi-story parking lots in urban areas. (PTI)
