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International experts who met in China recently have developed a computer software that could help endangered pandas find ideal mates for themselves. The software is programmed to analyse the health and family trees of captive giant pandas and then find suitable matches while avoiding close relatives.

It is apprehended that there are only about a 1,000 giant pandas surviving in the mountains of western China, and their number is fast depleting due to increasing habitat loss. There are about a 100 more pandas in captivity in China's zoos. But so far, attempts to make them mate have proved futile.

Wild pandas have a low birth rate. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, females normally give birth to one cub every two to three years.

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