Tian Tian (female giant panda)

Tián Tián at Edinburgh Zoo in 2012
Tián Tián sitting on branches

Tian Tian (Chinese: 甜甜; pinyin: Tián Tián, meaning “Sweetie") is a female panda born on 24 August 2003 at the Beijing Zoo from mother Niu Niu and father Ying Ying, and currently resident at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland.[1] She arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011[2] together with a male panda named Yáng Guāng (Chinese: 陽光, meaning "sunshine"). Currently they are the only two pandas in the United Kingdom.[3] They are on a 10-year loan from the Bifengxia Breeding Centre in China at a cost of £640,000 per year.[4]

Pregnancies

When in China Tian Tian, successfully gave birth to twins on 7 August 2009. The male cub was named Shen Wei and the female Bo Si.[5] After her arrival at Edinburgh Zoo she had an unsuccessful mating season in 2012.[6] In April 2013 Royal Zoological Society of Scotland performed on her the first artificial insemination procedure on a giant panda in the UK. They later confirm that Tian Tian had become pregnant, but most likely reabsorbed the foetus late term.[7] On 12 August 2014 Iain Valentine, Director of Giant Pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, announced that a second implantation had taken place, she was pregnant and birth was expected around the end of August 2014.[8] On September 22, 2014, Edinburgh Zoo announced that she was no longer pregnant.[9] On 26 March 2015 it was announced that a third artificial insemination had taken place[10] but by August 2015 it was believed she had lost the cub.[11][12] In October 2015 scientists said they were exploring cloning the pandas at Edinburgh zoo.[12]

In the media

The coverage of Tian Tian's pregnancies at Edinburgh Zoo became so widespread that BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme PM broadcast satirical daily "Possible Panda Pregnancy Update[s]".[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rzss.org.uk/media/4362/PandaFactsheet_April14.doc
  2. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/04/giant-pandas-edinburgh-zoo-china?guni=Article:in%20body%20link
  3. ↑ http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals-attractions/animals/giant-panda/
  4. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/dec/02/pandas-edinburgh-zoo
  5. ↑ http://www.giantpandazoo.com/panda/panda-zoos/edinburgh-zoo
  6. ↑ "Giant pandas fail to mate". The Guardian.
  7. ↑ "Edinburgh Zoo panda Tian Tian 'no longer pregnant'". BBC News. 15 October 2013.
  8. ↑ http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/news/2014/08/giant-panda-update/
  9. ↑ "News World news Animals Edinburgh zoo says giant panda Tian Tian is no longer pregnant". The Guardian. 22 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Giant Panda Breeding Season Update". Edinburgh Zoo. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Edinburgh zoo panda no longer believed to be pregnant". BBC News, Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Scottish scientists looking at ways to clone Edinburgh pandas". The Guardian. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  13. ↑ http://www.bigpartnership.co.uk/blog/public-relations/359-pandering-to-the-media-what-we-can-learn-from-britain-s-panda-watch
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