Tian Tian (female giant panda)

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Tián Tián at Edinburgh Zoo in 2012
Tián Tián sitting on branches

Tian Tian (Chinese: 甜甜; pinyin: Tián Tián, meaning "Sweetie") is a female panda born on 24 August 2003 at the Beijing Zoo from mother Niu Niu and father Ying Ying, and currently resident at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland.[1] She arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011[2] together with a male panda named Yáng Guāng (Chinese: 陽光, meaning "sunshine"). Currently they are the only two pandas in the United Kingdom.[3] They are on a 10-year loan from the Bifengxia Breeding Centre in China at a cost of £640,000 per year.[4]

Pregnancies[]

When in China Tian Tian, successfully gave birth to twins on 7 August 2009. The male cub was named Shen Wei and the female Bo Si.[5] After her arrival at Edinburgh Zoo she had an unsuccessful mating season in 2012.[6] In April 2013 Royal Zoological Society of Scotland performed on her the first artificial insemination procedure on a giant panda in the UK. They later confirm that Tian Tian had become pregnant, but most likely reabsorbed the foetus late term.[7] On 12 August 2014 Iain Valentine, Director of Giant Pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, announced that a second implantation had taken place, she was pregnant and birth was expected around the end of August 2014.[8] On 22 September 2014 Edinburgh Zoo announced that she was no longer pregnant.[9] On 26 March 2015 it was announced that a third artificial insemination had taken place[10] but by August 2015 it was believed she had lost the cub.[11][12] In October 2015 scientists said they were exploring cloning the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo.[12]

On 24 August 2017 it was revealed that Edinburgh Zoo had believed she was pregnant again after being artificially inseminated for the fifth time in 2016.[13] The expected date for a birth was as early as 25 August 2017[13] although the Zoo said was hard to predict and the panda breeding season can last until late September.[14] On 11 September 2017, the Zoo said that Tian Tian was not pregnant and her hormone levels had returned to normal.[15]

In the media[]

The coverage of Tian Tian's pregnancies at Edinburgh Zoo became so widespread that BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme PM broadcast satirical daily "Possible Panda Pregnancy Update[s]".[16]

References[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Carrell, Severin (4 December 2011). "Giant pandas touch down in Edinburgh". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "Page not found - Edinburgh Zoo". www.edinburghzoo.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  4. ^ Nicholls, Henry (2 December 2011). "What price captive pandas?". The Guardian.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 July 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Giant pandas fail to mate". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Edinburgh Zoo panda Tian Tian 'no longer pregnant'". BBC News. 15 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Page not found - Edinburgh Zoo". www.edinburghzoo.org.uk. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  9. ^ "News World news Animals Edinburgh zoo says giant panda Tian Tian is no longer pregnant". The Guardian. 22 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Giant Panda Breeding Season Update". Edinburgh Zoo. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Edinburgh zoo panda no longer believed to be pregnant". BBC News, Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Scottish scientists looking at ways to clone Edinburgh pandas". The Guardian. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Edinburgh Zoo 'believes giant panda Tian Tian is pregnant'".
  14. ^ "Edinburgh panda 'believed to be pregnant'". 24 August 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  15. ^ Carrell, Severin (11 September 2017). "Edinburgh zoo's giant panda fails to produce cub". The Guardian.
  16. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links[]

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