News from the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat
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May 20
Staff confirmed late yesterday that Mei Xiang is not pregnant but was experiencing a pseudo, or false, pregnancy during the past several months. Zoo scientists, veterinarians, and keepers were keeping a close eye on Mei Xiang, monitoring her hormone levels and behavior, as well as conducting weekly ultrasound exams in an attempt to determine if she was pregnant.
On April 20, Mei’s level of urinary progesterone (a hormone associated with pregnancy) began to decline. Upon reaching normal baseline levels, this decline would end in either the birth of a cub or the end of a pseudopregnancy. Based on this information, and not having seen a fetus during the ultrasound exams, Zoo researchers have determined that Mei experienced a pseudopregnancy.
As you may recall from previous years, female giant pandas almost always undergo a pseudopregnancy when they ovulate but fail to conceive. During a pseudopregnancy, hormonal changes and behaviors are identical to those of a true pregnancy, making it very difficult to determine if a giant panda is actually pregnant or not. This is the fifth time Mei Xiang has had a pseudopregnancy. She had her only cub, Tai Shan, in 2005. Giant pandas ovulate just once a year—Zoo scientists will determine whether Mei should be considered for breeding again in 2010.
We expect Mei to return to normal, hormonally and behaviorally (including an increase in appetite and activity level), in the coming days. The indoor part of the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat will reopen today at 10 a.m. It had been closed to provide Mei with a quiet environment in the event that she did give birth.
Yesterday, veterinarians anesthetized male giant panda Tian Tian so that scientists could collect semen to freeze and store as part of the Zoo’s collaboration with the worldwide giant panda breeding program.
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2 comments:
Scroll down a little under the Panda Cam screen at the site and look also at Panda Cam 2.
Her cub that she gave birth to four years ago is a big boy now. It's hard to tell which one is the young one.
KBM
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