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Singapore panda pair mates for the first time

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Giant panda couple Kai Kai and Jia Jia in Singapore have officially crossed their first mating season, said Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) in a press release on Tuesday.

The pubescent pandas were suitable for pairing last year but did not show signs of readiness to mate, it said, adding that the pandas' mating instincts are brought on by hormonal changes in response to seasonal variations, such as temperature changes and increasing day length from winter to spring.

WRS's River Safari's keepers and vets have employed a number of measures since last November to encourage mating. These included varying the daylight hours and temperature in the panda exhibit to simulate the transition from winter to spring in the pandas' homeland in Sichuan, China.

And the pandas responded in early Apirl, with seven-year-old Kai Kai started bleating and scent-marking more frequently to attract six-year-old Jia Jia. The two bears were also frequently seen calling out to each other and looking through a closed gate linking their exhibit, WRS said.

On the evening of April 17, both pandas were brought together for the first natural mating. The 40-minute session did not appear to be successful, which is typical for first-time breeders as they may not know how to mate, it explained. A decision was then made to carry out artificial insemination to increase Jia Jia's chances of conceiving. "Panda reproduction is a notoriously complex process, with females ovulating once a year, in which they are fertile for only 24 to 36 hours. Jia Jia's hormones started falling on Friday and we needed to move quickly to artificial insemination due to the short window when female pandas are able to conceive," said Serena Oh, assistant director of Veterinary Services, Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

She said that they will continue to monitor Jia Jia's hormone levels and conduct ultrasounds to determine if she is pregnant in the next few months. "We will wait and hope for the best," she said.

The gestation period for a panda is typically five months, and one or two cubs are usually born. Endi