July 4, 2009 Baby panda goes on display at Chiang Mai Zoo Play video

(NECN/APTV) - Thousands of excited visitors flocked to a zoo in northern Thailand on Saturday for the first public viewing of a panda cub born six weeks ago.

Thais have shown immense interest in the panda since its surprise birth at Chiang Mai zoo at the end of May.

A public competition to name the female cub drew more than half a (m) million entries.

These have been whittled down to four and the name will be chosen next month .

The birth took zoo officials by surprise.

They had tried a number of strategies to get the female Lin Hui pregnant including showing her and her mate videos of their species mating.

Zoo officials eventually turned to artificial insemination.

Officials had noticed the female panda's hormone levels were rising but an ultrasound just weeks before the birth were inconclusive.

The parent animals have been on loan from China for the past six years.

Thailand now joins a select list of countries that have bred pandas in captivity, along with China, Japan and the US.