Pandas...a giant waste of time?

There is excitement in Edinburgh. The male giant panda resident in the city zoo has performed a quick handstand which could signify the onset of some giant panda mating.

http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2010/04/11/panda-f8a7c9331bbac776e52b26feeccc53de959f46d1-s6-c10.jpg

Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine) are the UK's only panda couple and spend most of year living apart. In the wild back in Shezhuan province the pandas start to come together 4-8 weeks before mating by initially following scent laid by each other.

This is why hopes are raised in Edinburgh. Yang Guang, the male, has been doing handstands against trees, rocks and walls in his enclosure as a way of scent marking. Tian Tian has been calling to the male. As well as watching out for these behavioural changes the keepers have also been hormone testing and have seen some changes.

The female panda is only fertile for 36-48 hours so the chances of successful mating are slim. In fact last year the pair were introduced to each other without success, something to do with Tian Tian's tail getting in the way! This year the keepers have learnt a lot and have changed the lighting in the enclosure to match that of their homeland and are playing easy listening music to get them in the mood.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01419/panda-cubs_1419419i.jpg

Today the pandas were let into each others living areas and the signs were positive. They have been getting used to each others smell with a view to getting them together for the 'magic' perhaps at the end of the month. Just in case the couple aren't in the mood when the time is right the keepers will use artificial insemination to hopefully ensure the arrival of panda cubs.

The trouble with pandas is that they don't really help themselves. They are an endangered species whose behaviour makes the fact pretty inevitable. Firstly they live in a very specific habitat with a very limited diet of bamboo which they are wholly dependent on. They live separately and mate infrequently, a 36-48 hour window is very limiting. If they are successful the cub that is born is ridiculously helpless being only about 4oz in weight. They don't open their eyes for six weeks and are immobile for 3 months. Two cubs maybe born but in he wild only one is likely to survive.

Ok, I admit that the fact that humans have destroyed habitats is the underlying reason why there are only an estimated 1000 pandas left in the wild. But come on pandas when you get a chance procreate.

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