Hong Kong will not be getting its first baby giant panda just yet after hopes were dashed that Ocean Park’s female panda Ying Ying was pregnant.
Ying Ying began showing signs that she might be with child in the middle of last month after being artificially inseminated in July with sperm from her partner Le Le. Her food intake decreased and she experienced swelling and hormonal changes consistent with pregnancy.
However, repeated ultrasound scans have not found any sign of a foetus and the symptoms are tapering off.
But experts say false symptoms of pregnancy are not unusual in pandas, and the strength of Ying Ying’s symptoms are an indication that she is getting more mature, increasing hopes of a future pregnancy.
It is the third unsuccessful attempt to mate the two pandas, who arrived in 2007 to mark the 10th anniversary of the handover and are now eight years old.
“Although we are disappointed by the results, we are nevertheless encouraged by Ying Ying and Le Le’s physical maturity and improvement this year,” said Suzanne Gendron, the park’s executive director of zoological operations and education.