Will relaxing music help Tian Tian & Yang Guang?
Tian Tian & Yang Guang are getting ready for their second breeding season in Scotland. The staff at Edinburgh Zoo is doing all they can to prepare the animals, including playing relaxing music in Yang Guang’s pen and managing a strict diet and training regime for both of them.
If they succeed, the pandas’ cubs will become the first born in the UK, but it will also be a significant step in the fight to save the endangered species.
Already both pandas have started to show important changes in their behaviour which are encouraging signs that they are ready to mate soon.
As a contingency plan, foreign expertswill be brought in to perform artificial insemination on Tian Tian as well as the hoped natural mating.
Iain Valentine, director of giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, said of the two methods being used: ‘This follows the best practice methodology adopted by other panda-keeping zoos around the world and gives our giant pandas the best possible chance of success.’
Yang Guang is being trained to stand on his hind quarters to strength his legs in preparation for doing the deed, which lasts just two minutes.
A whistle and rewards such as carrots and apples have been used to encourage him to stand.
Tian Tian is also being trained to stand so zoo keepers can perform ultrasound scans to monitor her ovaries and womb, and hopefully the pregnancy. She has also been trained to urinate on cue making it easier for keepers to get samples to detect changes in her hormone levels which can indicate when the right moment for mating will be.
Indoor light timers have been fitted in both their pens to mimic outside sunlight levels so both pandas can undergo physiological changes at the same time.
The male is being fed more bamboo to increase his stamina. He is currently eating 110lbs a day but this will be increased to 220lb which is almost his whole body weight in food.
Tian Tian’s urine samples from when she was in season last year have been dabbed around Yang Guang’s pen to increase his hormone levels.
In the wild, male pandas would track down the female in season by tracking the chemical signals given off by her urine. It also triggers hormonal and chemical changes in the male’s body.
Smooth Radio is being played in his pen as well to relax him after his adjustment to his new home has been difficult. New Year’s fireworks, planes and high winds have unsettled him in the past.
The pandas have also been able to glimpse each other through a grate as their reunion approaches in an attempt to ‘tease’ them. They will be gradually introduced to each other as the date approaches.
Yang Guang recently started doing handstands against trees, walls and rocks, scent-marking as high up as possible, which is known as a display of virility in the wild.
Meanwhile Tian Tian has already started calling out to the male which is common during breeding season.
Fingers crossed…
Source: The Daily Mail
