Sex the only option to cure this female panda's bad walking habit

Representational image

New Delhi: Zookeepers at an animal park in Berlin are hoping that sex will cure a female panda's habit of walking backwards.

For this, they have planned to introduce her to a four-year-old male panda, three years elder to her,in the hope that romance will help her with the frustrations associated with life in captivity that could be behind her habit.

“Meng Meng is in puberty,” Berlin Zoo director Andreas Knieriem told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper on Sunday. “The reverse walk is a protest against things she dislikes, be it the food or the carers.”

China lent Meng Meng and Jiao Qing to Germany earlier this year.

The two bears are a major attraction at the zoo’s $10-million Chinese compound inaugurated by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Xi Jinping in July.

Giant pandas in captivity are kept apart except for in the mating season, which occurs between February and May.

“By then, Meng Meng will have reached sexual maturity and could focus all her energy on seducing her partner,” Knieriem said.