Hong Kong Ocean Park's Two Giant Pandas Successfully Breed Naturally, Expected to 'Have New Cubs' This Year
According to Hong Kong Ocean Park, the two 14-year-old female giant pandas ‘Ying Ying’ and male giant panda ‘Lele’ displayed mating behavior in late March, successfully mating on April 6th at 9:00 AM. This is the first successful natural mating since 2010 for the two pandas, and they are hoping to bring ‘new cubs’ to Hong Kong this year.
Since the late March of this year, female giant panda ‘Ying Ying’ has displayed playful water behavior, while ‘Lele’ has started marking scents and sniffing ‘Ying Ying’s’ scent. After testing, ‘Ying Ying’’s hormone levels have changed, and the Ocean Park veterinary team confirmed that the two giant pandas have entered their mating season this year. The breeding team began to closely observe and monitor the behavior and physical condition of the two giant pandas.
Ocean Park Animal and Conservation Executive Director Michael Bos said, “‘Ying Ying’ and ‘Lele’ arrived in Hong Kong in 2007, and have been trying natural mating since 2010, but unfortunately, they were unsuccessful. After many years of attempts and learning, they finally succeeded in natural mating this year, which made everyone jump for joy because the pregnancy rate of natural mating is higher than artificial insemination pregnancy rate. If ‘Ying Ying’ gets pregnant, the earliest pregnancy reaction will appear in late June, of course, it may also be false pregnancy. They are hoping to bring ‘new cubs’ to us and contribute to the conservation of giant pandas.
Ocean Park will closely monitor ‘Ying Ying’’s hormone levels and behavior changes, and will announce the latest news to the public when appropriate.
The Panda Center and Hong Kong Ocean Park’s ‘Panda Romance’ have been in close contact since 1999, and have made significant contributions to giant panda protection research. The Panda Center hopes that ‘Ying Ying’ will bring good news this year and give birth to a panda baby in Hong Kong.
Background information
In 1999, a pair of giant pandas ‘An An’ and ‘Jia Jia’ were gifted to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by the central government and settled in Hong Kong Ocean Park, becoming popular stars in Hong Kong. The ‘Panda Romance’ between the Panda Center and Hong Kong Ocean Park began. On October 16, 2016, female giant panda ‘Jia Jia’ passed away after euthanasia in Ocean Park at the age of 38, which is equivalent to 110 years in human terms, the longest-lived panda ever in captivity. In 2007, on the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, the central government gifted another pair of giant pandas to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. After strict selection, the two giant pandas from the Panda Center were selected, and the two giant pandas were named by Hong Kong citizens. The two giant pandas were finally named ‘Lele’ and ‘Ying Ying’, which means ‘prosperity and happiness’ for Hong Kong. Now, there are 3 giant pandas in Hong Kong Ocean Park: ‘An An’ (34 years old), ‘Lele’ (14 years old) and ‘Ying Ying’.
