VIENNA, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - A baby panda was born Thursday at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo, the first in Europe to be conceived naturally while in captivity, the zoo said.

Most pandas conceived in captivity are the product of artificial insemination but Schoenbrunn Zoo's director Dagmar Schratter said Thursday that her team had wanted 'to let nature run its course.'

The cub, which measures about 10 centimetres (four inches) and weighs just 100 grammes (0.22 pounds), is the product of the zoo's two giant pandas in residence, Yang Yang and Long Hui.

BANGKOK, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) - Veterinarians have tried pornography, diets and artificial insemination, but Thailand's famously celibate giant pandas have once again failed to produce a cub, a zoo official said Thursday.

Lin Hui, the six-year-old female, received semen from her companion Chuang Chuang in April after the pair showed no interest whatsoever in reproducing the traditional way.

But an ultrasound carried out on Lin Hui at a zoo in the northern city of Chiang Mai on Thursday showed she was still not pregnant.

BEIJING, Aug 9, 2007 (AFP) - A giant panda first thought to be male, then classified as a hermaphrodite who was unable to bear cubs, has now surprised Chinese scientists by having twins, state media reported on Thursday.

Eleven-year-old Jinzhu gave birth to two female cubs on Monday, Xinhua news agency said.

Jinzhu had been classified as male at birth in 1996, a mistake owing to the typically small penis size of pandas, which can sometimes confuse scientists as to a panda's sex, Xinhua said.

SAN DIEGO, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Bai Yun, a 16-year-old Giant Panda at the San Diego zoo, gave birth to her fourth cub Friday, only the fourth such event in the United States for the one of the world's most endangered species.

The birth took place at 1:30 pm (2030 GMT) after two-and-a-half hours of labor, the zoo said in a statement, only four days after it announced that Bai Yun was pregnant.

The gender of the new Panda will not be known until mother and cub separate long enough to allow veterinarians a quick check up of the tiny creature.