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Zookeepers at Washington’s National Zoo are on furry black-and-white child watch after concluding that venerable big panda matriarch Mei Xiang is pregnant and will give birth this week. It’s a welcome bit of excellent news amid a pandemic that stored the zoo shuttered for months.
“We need this! We totally need this joy,” mentioned zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson. “We are all in desperate need of these feel-goods.”
Although so-called “phantom pregnancies” are widespread with pandas and different massive bears, Baker-Masson mentioned an ultrasound scan revealed a “really strong-looking, fantastic fetus” that may very well be delivered this week.
“The image was great. She is absolutely pregnant. But things could still happen, just like in a human pregnancy,” Baker-Masson mentioned.
The zoo posted a video from the ultrasound on Instagram. “Keep your paws crossed!” the zoo posted, reporting that the fetus was “kicking and swimming in the amniotic fluid.”
The announcement of the being pregnant has already touched off a recent spherical of panda-mania for one of the zoo’s function sights. Viewership on the zoo’s panda-cam has elevated 800%.
The zoo reopened on a restricted foundation July 24, with restrictions in place to maintain the crowds down. However, all indoor displays, together with the extraordinarily standard panda home, have remained closed. Visitors can nonetheless view the outside panda enclosure, however Mei has largely been staying indoors, making a nest out of branches. She can nonetheless be seen on the panda cam.
Panda births are inherently tough, with stillbirths and miscarriages taking place regularly. There can be a phenomenon known as “resorption” whereby the fetus is unexpectedly absorbed again into the mom’s physique. Baker-Masson mentioned that’s uncommon with a fetus this well-developed.
Another potential complication is the age of the mom. Mei, at 22, could be the oldest big panda to efficiently give birth within the United States. The oldest on the earth gave birth in China at age 23.
“Reproductively speaking, she is an older bear,” Baker-Masson mentioned. “But she has been a great mother in the past.”
Mei Xiang has efficiently given birth to 3 cubs: Tai Shan, Bao Bao and Bei Bei. All have been transported to China at age 4, underneath phrases of the zoo’s settlement with the Chinese authorities.
Mei was impregnated through synthetic insemination, a course of which was closely affected by precautions over the COVID-19 pandemic. The process was performed shortly after the complete zoo shut down on March 14.
Normally, zookeepers would have used a mixture of saved frozen sperm and recent semen extracted from male panda Tian Tian. In order to reduce the quantity of close-quarters medical procedures performed, zoo employees determined to skip the extraction and inseminate Mei solely with thawed out semen from 2016. If profitable, it could be the primary of its variety within the U.S. utilizing solely frozen sperm.
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