A couple of giant pandas in captivity were involved in a rare mating weekend, although the expected result, an even rarer offspring, is still too early to tell, a French zoo said.
Huan Huan, a female panda borrowed from China at the Beauval Zoo in central France, was “put in contact” eight times on Saturday with partner Yuan Zi, the zoo said on Sunday.
Female pandas are fertile only 24 to 48 hours a year and, in the wild, usually give birth every two years.
But in captivity, the small window of opportunity prevents most attempts to breed because male pandas often seem to lose interest in the act or, without practice, do not know how to act.
But, as it turned out, the Beauval couple were “cooperative and very active” when they approached, the zoo reported.
Yuan Zi was “more comfortable with the approach and the mating than in previous years”, while Huan Huan, in heat, was “very interested”.
Panda keepers and veterinarians will not hold their breath for success, because there are no guarantees of pregnancy, even after several rounds of loving activity.
But the team felt that the performance “was very good” and praised the male panda that “has made progress” since last year, according to the zoo’s chief veterinarian, Baptiste Mulot. “He has a better idea of what to do,” he said.
According to the zoo, “high-pitched sounds” from the female and “more hoarse” from the male gave rhythm to the meetings, “which is normal and a good sign”.
But, to be sure, the team added artificial insemination overnight with the help of German experts who flew in for the operation that involved anesthetizing the pandas briefly.
Any pregnancy should be detected in two weeks, but even that would not necessarily mean success, as pandas often have pseudo-pregnancies that do not produce an embryo.
In 2017, Huan Huan gave birth to Yuan Meng, the first panda born in France, after artificial insemination.
Now the size of his mother, the young panda will be sent to China this year, where 500 pandas live in captivity and 2,000 in the wild.