Free Republic

Remarkable new film of wild pandas shows how the rare bears engage in some gymnastics to mark their territory. Pandas can adopt four distinct postures to deposit scent, with probably the strangest being the handstand. The bear goes upside down on its front paws with the aim of pushing its urine as high up a tree trunk as possible. The amazing pictures were taken in the Quingling mountain range of north-west China, and will be shown on BBC One's Bears - Spy In The Woods programme. It is said to be the first time wild pandas have been filmed in...

Sex education vidoes have been made compulsory for adult giant pandas in China to stop the endangered species becoming extinct.The China Giant Panda Breeding and Research Centre in Sichuan say the videos featuring both wild and captive pandas having sex will encourage them to mate.Researchers are now making all male pandas who reach sexual maturity watch the videos following successful experiments with so-called panda porn.Xinhua says the dwindling numbers of giant pandas is partly due to their relatively low fertility rate, which is reduced further in captivity.Only 10% of giant pandas in captivity are capable of natural mating and just...