By Associated Press, 3/25/03

SAN DIEGO -- Love was in the air at the San Diego Zoo this weekend.

Gao Gao, an 11-year-old male giant panda who recently arrived from China, mated three times Saturday with Bai Yun, the San Diego Zoo's resident female panda.

"We just couldn't believe that this could come off so quickly," said Don Lindburg, head of the zoo's panda team. "I am beyond surprised."

Researchers are optimistic that the panda mating -- a first in San Diego Zoo history -- may yield another cub.

Bai Yun gave birth to a cub in 1999 after she was artificially inseminated.

Gao Gao arrived from China in mid-January, replacing Shi Shi, a 26-year-old male, who returned to China earlier this year after years of showing more interest in bamboo than in mating with Bai Yun.

"We had year after year of frustration," Lindburg said. "To have this naive individual at his first opportunity perform in this way was pretty special."

Gao Gao showed intense interest in 12-year-old Bai Yun from the get-go. The pandas were taken off public display and given privacy after biologists determined Bai Yun had entered a rare period of fertility.