UPDATE 11:17 a.m. 6/29/2015: Animal keeper Nicole MacCorkle says that Mei Xiang defecated in her den on Sunday night — “That lets us know that she’s not treating it as a true den,” she says –but adds that zoo officials aren’t surprised by the signal and haven’t lost hope. “I think if we get into September and we haven’t seen a cub or some really strong indicators, then we will hope for next year,” she says. “But we still have a while.”
EARLIER: WASHINGTON — The panda pregnancy watch at National Zoo is beginning in earnest. Mei Xiang has been pulling bamboo into her den, and that could be a first step toward “nest-building” – a sign that she’s expecting.
Panda pregnancies are notoriously hard to detect. Pseudo-pregnancies are common and can even produce “false positive” hormones.
It’s still too early to tell. A sure sign that Mei herself believes she is not pregnant would be if she defecates in her den, according to an update from panda keeper Nicole MacCorkle. MacCorkle notes that a panda would never soil her nest if she was expecting to give birth.
Scientists performed two artificial inseminations on Mei Xiang in late April, using sperm from her National Zoo companion Tian Tian, and Hui Hui, a panda living at a research center in Wolong, China.
Giant panda pregnancies tend to last three to six months. If Mei gives birth, genetic testing will determine which panda is the father.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian’s second surviving cub, Bao Bao, will be two years old Aug. 23. Check her out on the zoo’s Panda Cam playing here with a giant ice cube last Tuesday:
From the panda cams: Bao Bao got a bear-sized ice cube today as some special enrichment. pic.twitter.com/q3u3yr7uBO
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) June 23, 2015
The pair’s first cub, Tai Shan, left D.C. five years ago and lives in a research facility in Dujiangyan, China.
Smithsonian National Zoo biologist Laurie Thompson and panda keeper Becky Malinsky recently visited the facility and note happily that Tai lives in an enclosure right next door to his 30-year-old grandfather, Pan Pan.
