Since the pandas were a gift from the People's Republic, it was a matter of some delicacy when Washington zoo officials, on a visit to China this spring, broached the question of sex among pandas—or, in this case, the frustrating lack thereof. Old Chinese panda hands spelled it out in black and white—the nubile carnivores should lop off some lard to improve the odds.
Reasoning that the Chinese ought to know—since only in China have pandas borne cubs in captivity—Xanten immediately put both on a diet. Before their weight-watching, they had been putting away a twice-daily ration of six pounds of rice gruel, four ounces of horsemeat, two and a half pounds of carrots, two pounds of apples, one large Milk-Bone, one pound of cooked sweet potatoes and 20 pounds of bamboo apiece. Now Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing have both slimmed down to a friskier 275 pounds. (Since pandas can be as irritable as they are unromantic, Xanten's weigh-ins are understandably cautious: "Lure the panda from the cage. Shove the scale in. Toss a carrot on the scale. Leave.")
The problem of panda progeny is vexing to the National Zoo, which adopted the roly-poly pair as a symbol in 1972 and spent $500,000 on plush separate pads. First attempts at mating the duo were made in 1973, but the two were probably still prepubescent. Will the newly svelte pandas succeed the next time they feel in the mood? Mating fans will probably have to wait till next spring to find out. Then Xanten will put them together for their seventh sportive outing and hope that they do what comes naturally. "They're very compatible bears," he says with a sigh. "We've done everything humanly possible. Now it's up to them."
Get up-to-the-minute celebrity news and photos on your cellphone, iPhone or Blackberry at www.people.com!
