Zoo confirms they no longer believe Tian Tian is pregnant

After weeks of speculation, experts at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) have said that they no longer believe Edinburgh Zoo's giant panda is pregnant.

According to the society, all of female panda Tian Tian's hormonal and behavioural signs now suggest that she did conceive and carry a foetus, but unfortunately lost it late term.

"We are all saddened by this turn of events after so many weeks of waiting," said Chris West, chief executive of RZSS. "Timings are difficult to pinpoint at this moment, but we had a meeting this morning where Tian Tian’s behaviour and hormone results were reviewed and have come to the conclusion that it is very likely she has lost the pregnancy.

The zoo first announced that Tian Tian may have been pregnant back in August, after the panda was artificially inseminated in April of this year.

She has been carefully monitored ever since and Mr West says that up until now, she has been showing consistent signs of pregnancy, passing a mucus plug around mid-September and starting to produce colostrum. Additionally, Tian Tian experienced a prolonged secondary rise is progesterone.

Over the past few days, however, the veterinary team has seen a significant decline in the amount of colostrum she is producing and the panda has returned to the normal eating habits and behavioural patterns of a non-pregnant panda.

Mr West added: "Such a loss has always been in our minds as a very real possibility, as it occurs in giant pandas as well as many other animals, including humans…

"We are conducting a detailed review of the scientific data collected, but I am totally confident that we did everything it was possible to do."

Despite this loss, Mr West says that most research centres and zoos have not managed to breed pandas until the third or forth year, and the achievements at Edinburgh Zoo in less than two years of having giant pandas is "immense".

The zoo will continue to work closely with international colleagues on research to further understanding of giant panda biology and conservation in the wild. He said: "We exist to safeguard species from extinction. We will carry on and are confident we will succeed."

The panda enclosure at Edinburgh is expected to remain closed until the end of this week to allow Tian Tian time to return to her normal routine, and to give keepers time to recover after this busy period.

Image credit: RZSS