Panda Breeding Season Approaches @ National Zoo
Spring is in the air at the National Zoo’s Panda House. Flowers are blooming, bamboo shoots are popping up everywhere (yum!), and there has been a flurry of animal activity. Young red panda Pili recently moved to her new home in California, where she will be paired with a genetically suitable male for breeding in the future. Her sister, Damini, will also be moving to another zoo within the next several weeks, and will also be paired for breeding. Meanwhile, their parents, Shama and Tate, were seen breeding several times in mid-February, and we are hopeful that they will have cubs again this summer.
Although Mei Xiang’s hormones are still at baseline, keepers have noticed some changes in the giant pandas’ behavior indicating that peak estrus may be near. Both pandas are spending a considerable amount of time scent-marking their exhibits, and investigating each other’s scent marks when we move them to a different yard. When we give Tian Tian the opportunity to explore an area where Mei Xiang has recently been, he has been softly bleating, a contact call that changes in intensity as breeding time approaches.
We are conducting mesh introductions daily, giving the pandas an opportunity to interact with each other while being physically separated by a chain link fence. During these intros, we are able to gauge the pandas’ responses to each other, and use that to predict their readiness to breed. In the last several days, we have noted that the bears are interested in each other, but also quite interested in food. When peak estrus occurs, both pandas will be too preoccupied with each other to spend much time eating.
While keepers closely monitor the giant pandas’ behavior, reproductive scientists carefully analyze the hormonal data contained in the daily urine samples and vaginal cytology slides. Taken individually, each of these measures could narrow down the time frame for peak estrus. Together, however, all of these factors can pinpoint with precise accuracy the optimum time for the pandas to breed. Using all of the tools that we have, we hope to help Mei Xiang and Tian Tian produce another cub this year.
Source: National Zoo
