Regular donors to the WWF will today feel pleased with themselves after the charity announced that it has managed to increase the rate of panda mating worldwide by over 14%.

The charity has funded a ‘panda pornography’ industry, after experiments proved the efficacy of the programme.

Panda pornography (or panda porn) refers generally to movies depicting mating pandas, intended to promote sexual arousal in captive giant pandas. Under zoo conditions, the animals have, in general, proven unenthusiastic about mating, placing their species in danger of extinction.

The method was popularised following reports of an experiment performed by zoologists in Thailand, in which they showed several captive giant pandas at Chiang Mai Zoo a number of videos showing other giant pandas having sex.

Though the researchers behind the project state that they believe there have been successful matings due to usage of sex videos for animals, such success so far has not been achieved outside China, where 31 cubs were born over a ten-month period following commencement of the experiment.

Other methods, including the use of Viagra to sexually stimulate pandas, have thus far been unsuccessful.

In the last few years the WWF has expanded the programme, helping organise regular film nights in many zoos around the world, and also paying for the production of new films.

New films are produced for a low budget, using footage created from the screening the week before.

The WWF announced the results of the scheme at a conference in China last night, and are calling for more donations to keep the scheme going.

— NFN's Oliver Frost contributed to this report.