No panda cubs this year

Animals: Pregnancy optimism at Edinburgh Zoo premature, say keepers

The UK’s only female giant panda will not give birth this year, Edinburgh Zoo has said.

In August, the zoo revealed that Tian Tian was believed to be pregnant but said a due date was hard to predict.

Tests have now found that the panda’s hormone levels and behaviour have returned to normal “as the breeding cycle ends for this year”.

Iain Valentine, director of giant pandas at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), said: “It is with sadness that we can confirm Tian Tian, Edinburgh Zoo’s resident female giant panda, will not give birth to cubs this year.”

Tian Tian was artificially inseminated earlier this year and had been closely monitored by experts.

News of the insemination had been kept under wraps by the zoo following five previous failed attempts to produce a cub since Tian Tian (Sweetie) arrived in Edinburgh with male Yang Guang (Sunshine) in 2011.

The pair, who are on loan from China for 10 years, are the only giant pandas in the UK.

Barbara Smith, chief executive of RZSS, said: “There was great excitement when early tests indicated that Tian Tian was pregnant. Like everyone, we are sad that the pregnancy did not result in cubs this time around.

“Giant panda breeding is an incredibly complex, unpredictable process. Over the next few weeks, we will be working closely with our Chinese partners to review not only this year’s breeding season but all the scientific data from the past five years, to help us better understand this complex process.”

GIANT DISAPPOINTMENT: This is the sixth year Tian Tian has failed to conceive at Edinburgh Zoo