Doing this in the United States with the pandas at the Smithsonian Zoo would violate the terms of the American "Extension Agreement on Cooperative Research and Breeding of the Giant Panda". See the agreement, specifically. read more
The other legal document that's important here, if you intended to do this experiment in the U.S., is the panda permit. Interestingly, U.S. policy on pandas does not itself explicitly forbid cloning — so maybe if you could get a panda free of Chinese control, you could try it out. read more
Conservation groups point out that cloned animals can suffer major health problems – Dolly the sheep was euthanised at six-years-old due to health problems. Dr Bill Ritchie, who is involved in the project, told the Mail Online, “the fact that you can grow cells is a step on the way.” “This may be a source for a cloning project. read more
Researchers are studying the possibility of cloning the giant panda in an effort to save the animal from extinction. In the summer, they succeeded in producing a panda embryo using an egg from a rabbit. But the technology has aroused some controversy in China and it may yet prove difficult to use cloning to produce a live panda. read more