World's Oldest Panda On Road To Recovery

FLORA AND FAUNA

File photo of Mei Mei.

Beijing (AFP) Jul 11, 2005
The world's oldest giant panda, 36-year-old Mei Mei, is recovering following fears she was on her last legs because of a respiratory tract and lung infection, state media said Monday.

Equivalent in age to an 108-year-old human, Mei Mei, who is kept at a zoo in southern China's Guilin city, Guangxi province, has regained her ability to eat on her own since last week, the China Daily reported.

Her health began to deteriorate because of old age and the hot weather, the report cited the zoo's supervisor Shi Zhukui saying.

Zoo keepers are supervising her around the clock.

The average life expectancy for a panda is about 20 years.

Mei Mei was taken into captivity in 1985 to keep her from starving because of a shortage of bamboo.

In 1989, experts tried to impregnate her through artificial fertilization, but failed.

The survival of the panda is of great concern to many Chinese as well as environmentalists and animal lovers around the world.

Despite intensive efforts to promote breeding in the notoriously undersexed animal, there are only about 1,590 of the endangered species living in the wild, all in China. Another 161 have been raised in captivity.

Deforestation, development and poaching have contributed to their demise.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Understanding The Meaning Of "Nothing"

Waltham MA (SPX) Jul 11, 2005
A Brandeis University researcher has shown that an African grey parrot with a walnut-sized brain understands a numerical concept akin to zero - an abstract notion that humans don't typically understand until age three or four, and that can significantly challenge learning-disabled children

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