Edinburgh Zoo Panda Update: June 26, 2015
Many of you have been asking about whether or not Tian Tian is pregnant and Iain Valentine, Director of Giant Pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, has provided this latest update: “Scientific data does suggest Tian Tian has conceived, however this is not pregnancy. Giant panda pregnancies are extremely complex. Pregnancy begins when implantation takes place and this has not yet occurred. There are many hurdles to get through yet, so we would request that people do not get too excited at this very early stage.”
Head panda keeper Alison MacLean says: Everyone knows that the majority of a giant panda’s diet is bamboo, and plenty of it, however did you know that pandas eat both the stalk, leaves and the fresh new bamboo shoots? At different times of year pandas vary the volume of food they eat also. Tian Tian and Yang Guang are both starting to eat more leaves in their diet, because at any given time they naturally tend to eat what is most nutritious so they do not burn more calories eating the bamboo then they get from it! They are actually very cleaver in their selection of what bits of the bamboo they eat. Our pair are also enjoying a lot of bamboo shoots right now, which they love; naturally sweet the shoots are basically the equivalent of ‘panda sweeties’!. – See more at: http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/news/2015/06/giant-panda-update/#sthash.sH1pdIc9.dpuf
Source: http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/news/2015/06/giant-panda-update/#sthash.sH1pdIc9.dpuf
