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This article discusses a giant panda bear named Tai Shan at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. It is hoped that Tai Shan may help scientists reestablish the endangered giant panda in the wild. Pandas are described as being difficult to breed since female pandas ovulate once a year and only remain fertile for one or two days. New fertility monitoring techniques allow scientists to accurately time the insemination of pandas.

Deals with the optimism of elephant researchers to boost captive-animal reproduction rates and reverse a potential population crash in zoos. Infant elephant mortality rate; Decline in the population of wild elephants; Threats to elephant population; Challenges to captive breeding through artificial insemination; Description of the traditional elephant management method.

Reports on the birth of an elephant calf, Kandula, after its mother, Shanthi, was artificially inseminated at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. How the calf is only the fourth elephant born in the United States using artificial insemination and the fifth worldwide; Lack of natural breeding in captivity; Difficulty of achieving the pregnancy; Help of Germany's Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research.

This article discusses the Chinese Conservation and Research Center for the giant panda near Wolong, China. Trainer Han Hongyi helps pandas to become familiar with human contact so that humans can help breed them, which proved successful in a record year with the birth of 16 panda cubs. Researchers at the center artificially inseminate the female pandas and increase the male's virility buy building physical strength.

Reports that Mei Xiang, a seven-year-old panda bear, gave birth to the first giant panda born at the National Zoo in more than a decade. Weight of the male cub, to which Mei has been very attentive; Use of a fiber-optic-guided catheter to inseminate Mei with the sperm of her eight-year-old mate, Tian Tian.