Japan's giant panda goes home

TOKYO -- Ling Ling the giant panda came home to Tokyo on Saturday after a failed third attempt to mate with females of the endangered species in Mexico.

The 17-year-old spent three months with three female pandas at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, but didn't impregnate any of them, Kyodo news agency said, citing officials at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo.

There is still some hope: Two of the females were artificially inseminated with Ling Ling's sperm, Kyodo said. It will be July before zookeepers can determine whether those pandas are pregnant, according to the report.

Two previous tries at artificial insemination also were unsuccessful.

Ling Ling was given to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo by China in 1992 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the normalization of ties between Japan and China.

Only about 1,000 giant pandas survive in the world -- in reserves in western and central China. Their existence is threatened by loss of habitat, poaching and a low rate of reproduction. Female pandas normally have a cub once every two to three years in the wild.

Ling Ling's long-term companion and intended mate, Tong Tong, died of cancer in July 2000 without ever giving birth.