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Fingers Crossed!

The Panda Team is excited to announce that Fu Ni ovulated some time between late Monday afternoon and the early hours of Tuesday morning. While the exact time, and level of her oestrogen peak is unknown, we know that behaviourally it was more likely to have been in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday morning, Fu Ni was presenting the mating position known as lordosis, which showed she had entered the final stage of the breeding season – ovulation.  We continued with our introductions between the pair. One interesting improvement from last year is that when Fu Ni sought height during the introductions, Wang Wang would still pursue her, climbing up to her height displaying dominant behaviours. Without seeing a natural mating, and the short 36 hour fertility window coming to a close, the decision was made to move to artificial insemination.

Wang Wang’s procedure went very well and we were thrilled to discover that Wang Wang is now producing semen of very high quality and quantity. Because such a good sample was obtained, we were able to carry out two artificial insemination procedures with Fu Ni. It’s quite common to carry out anywhere from one to three artificial insemination procedures during the 36 hour window Giant Panda breeding season. Both artificial insemination procedures went incredibly well. Wang Wang and Fu Ni had good recoveries back in their night quarters and were closely monitored.

The days following artificial insemination are the most critical for Fu Ni. Similar to marsupials, Giant Pandas have the ability to delay the implantation of an egg, until their environment is more appropriate – for example ensuring access to ample food and shelter.  During this time, it’s essential that Fu Ni is not exposed to any potential stressors to ensure that if there is a fertilised egg that it will implant in the uterine lining, and hopefully ensure that if she does fall pregnant it is not delayed. While there may only be a 50 percent chance that Fu Ni will conceive, it’s important that we treat her as though she is pregnant (even though she may not be).

A huge thank you to everyone for their support and understanding throughout this time.

Lucy Catt
Acting Senior Panda Keeper