Is Britain finally set for its first panda cub?
BRITAIN’S only female giant panda is thought to be pregnant – and could give birth today.
Tian Tian has kept the nation guessing for years over the possibility of a baby arriving at her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo.
There have been repeated false alarms since she arrived in the UK in 2011 as a gift from the Chinese government.
Now emails between the zoo and the Scottish Government reveal that keepers believe Tian Tian is about to give birth to the country’s first panda cub.
Documents released yesterday show that in late July this year the animal’s pregnancy was ‘on track’ and the mother-to-be is ‘doing real well’.
Iain Valentine, director of giant pandas at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, wrote to officials: ‘TT doing real well. As things are at the moment, she seems on track but I have shifted possible birth date to around 25th August. Will be able to be a bit more precise in a week’s time.
‘So she is about 30 days out now and pregnancy proper has now begun in what we think is a 37- day pregnancy.’ Breeding among giant pandas is a highly complex process and even experts find it hard to predict if a female is pregnant. The zoo confirmed that Tian Tian could be carrying a cub. A spokesman for Edinburgh Zoo said: ‘Tian Tian is being closely monitored by our expert team and we will be the first to share any news as soon as we can.’
Tian Tian arrived from China with male panda Yang Guang but natural breeding proved fruitless. Experts have so far resorted to artificial insemination five times.