Pregnancy talk as Singapore pandas mark birthday
Print Edition
Giant panda celebrities Kai Kai and Jia Jia celebrated their birthdays at Singapore’s River Safari yesterday, with all spotlight focusing on whether Jia Jia is pregnant or not.
Female panda Jia Jia turned seven yesterday while its mate, Kai Kai will turn eight on September 14. The two have crossed their first mating season in April this year, but the natural mating has been unsuccessful. Therefore, caretakers and specialists in River Safari have decided to conduct artificial insemination on Jia Jia.
In the past two months, Jia Jia has been eating less bamboo, sleeping more, spending more time in her den and her hormone levels are increasing — all signs consistent with pregnancy or pseudopregnancy. However, it is still uncertain whether Jia Jia is pregnant, as giant pandas commonly display pseudopregnancies and experts worldwide are often not able to determine pandas’ pregnancy status until a late stage.
Weekly ultrasound scans also failed to detect a foetus, but the results are still inconclusive.
Serena Oh, assistant director of Veterinary Services of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said that even ultrasound can tell a lie.
“For giant pandas, it’s actually quite difficult. It’s not like other animals where you can actually clearly see the foetus.”
The pandas’ birthdays will be marked with a Panda Party Week from September 5 to 13, where both bears will receive daily treats as a form of enrichment.
Kai Kai and Jia Jia, known as Wu Jie and Hu Bao respectively in China, arrived in the city state on September 6, 2012. They will be in Singapore for 10 years.
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