Hopes rise for panda birth at Tokyo zoo
Source: Agencies |
June 30, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE female panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo may be pregnant, raising hopes the pitter-patter of tiny panda paws will be heard there for the first time in more than two decades.
Two pandas, female Shin Shin and male Ri Ri, arrived in Tokyo from China in February 2011. They went on view to the public soon after a devastating earthquake and tsunami the following month, providing some welcome good news.
Hopes for a baby began after the two pandas were recorded on camera mating earlier this year.
Those hopes have risen further over the past month as 6-year-old Shin Shin began showing signs of pregnancy such as diminished appetite, more time sleeping and hormonal changes.
"At Ueno Zoo we've had three panda births, but the last one was in 1988, 24 years ago. So to have a birth for the first time in 24 years is obviously something we're looking forward to," said Yutaka Fukuda, vice deputy director at the zoo.
Panda fans have flocked to the zoo to see Shin Shin before she disappears from public view on July 3. The birth could take place any time from July to August. Pandas often show false signs of pregnancy.
Two pandas, female Shin Shin and male Ri Ri, arrived in Tokyo from China in February 2011. They went on view to the public soon after a devastating earthquake and tsunami the following month, providing some welcome good news.
Hopes for a baby began after the two pandas were recorded on camera mating earlier this year.
Those hopes have risen further over the past month as 6-year-old Shin Shin began showing signs of pregnancy such as diminished appetite, more time sleeping and hormonal changes.
"At Ueno Zoo we've had three panda births, but the last one was in 1988, 24 years ago. So to have a birth for the first time in 24 years is obviously something we're looking forward to," said Yutaka Fukuda, vice deputy director at the zoo.
Panda fans have flocked to the zoo to see Shin Shin before she disappears from public view on July 3. The birth could take place any time from July to August. Pandas often show false signs of pregnancy.
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