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China to implant ID chips in pandas
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-20 09:11
China will implant high-tech identification tags into all its captive pandas
in an effort to better monitor the population and prevent inbreeding, the Xinhua
news agency says.
China will implant high-tech identification
tags into all its captive pandas in an effort to better monitor the
population and prevent inbreeding, the Xinhua news agency says.
[Reuters] |
"Information about pedigree, age and other basic data will be permanently
incorporated into the giant pandas by ways of molecular labelling or hypodermic
implantation of sensing chips," Xinhua on Saturday quoted a State Forestry
Administration official as saying.
The tagging would begin this year, and would also help keep track of the
animals once they are sent back into the wild, said the official, who was not
identified.
No further details were given.
At the end of 2004, China had 163 pandas in captivity
and an estimated 1,590 in the wild, Xinhua said.
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