What To Expect When Your Giant Panda Might Be Expecting

Pierre Comizzoli (right), reproductive physiologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, performs an artificial insemination on giant panda Mei Xiang March 29, 2019. Don Neiffer (left), chief veterinarian at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, performs for the procedure.

Scientists and veterinarians at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute are playing a game of chance.

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On Thursday, they artificially inseminated a giant panda named Mei Xiang. Like all female giant pandas, she is only in estrus — able to get pregnant — for 24 to 72 hours each year.

Those aren’t great odds, but Mei Xiang and her panda sperm donor, Tian Tian, are being carefully monitored. Her keepers first noticed she might be heading into her breeding season earlier this month when she started getting restless, pacing her enclosure and playing around in the water.

#MeiXiang is starting showing behavioral signs that the panda breeding season is approaching. She is playing more frequently—like in this bubble bath tub—and her hormones are on the rise. Read the full update https://t.co/VjmE5bQfmY #PandaStory pic.twitter.com/kjMJqMdluT

— National Zoo (@NationalZoo)
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