The experiment has been made the subject of the BBC documentary Natural World Special: Panda Makers, and is narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
Attenborough describes the controversial attempt to reverse panda extinction as a “man-made solution to a man-made problem.”
The video, however, demonstrates the apparent difficulty of encouraging panda mating. Females are in heat for less than 72 hours a year, and even the seemingly foolproof combination of porn and Viagra doesn’t always sufficiently rouse the desires of panda males.
The silver lining, as it were, is that the plan has already produced 136 panda cubs with the help of the techniques. And fortunately, researchers only have to reach 300 pandas. At that point, assuming normal mating habits take hold, the panda population will be able to grow organically, without the aid of humans, Viagra, or porn.
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