SCIENCE NEWS - World's first panda cub born from frozen sperm

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China announced the first successful birth of a panda cub from artificial insemination using frozen sperm, officials said today.

The breakthrough gives new hope for the endangered animals, which are notoriously poor breeders. Female panda You You gave birth to the cub yesterday morning at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center, in southwestern Sichuan.

The sperm from male panda Lolo had been frozen for 'a number of years', said Huang.

Artificial insemination is commonly used for breeding pandas, which have very low sex drives.

In 2006, 34 pandas were born through artificial insemination in China and 30 survived - both record numbers for the endangered species.

The technique has also been used at zoos in the United States.

However, using panda sperm that has been frozen earlier - instead of from an immediate donor - had not been successful before.

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