Mum’s the word amid hope panda is pregnant

The female giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo is showing encouraging signs she may be pregnant, according to keepers.

There are indications Tian Tian could give birth to Britain’s first panda cub within weeks, zoo staff say.

Changes in the levels of the panda’s protein and her progesterone hormone suggest her artificial insemination in April was successful.

Keepers have also noted behavioural changes such as a lack of appetite, restlessness and nesting behaviour like making a bed of straw.

Experts are being cautious as it has not been possible to carry out an ultrasound and the signs may also be symptoms of a pseudo-pregnancy.

Iain Valentine, director of the zoo’s panda project, told BBC Good Morning Scotland that the signs are “hugely exciting” because a panda has never been born in Britain. “Since the artificial insemination, which took place in April, we’ve been monitoring hormones and we’ve also been monitoring an acute protein in her urine. So we’ve got to a point where the profile that she has been building up over the last few months is looking quite promising.

“Now we have taken another step in that the progesterone levels have now increased, which means that we are into the last 40 to 55 days of either pregnancy or pseudo-pregnancy.

“On top of all that, all of her behaviours are now shifting as well, so the overall picture is looking quite good.”

A second rise in progesterone hormone levels was detected in Tian Tian on July 15 and confirmed on Wednesday, according to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), the conservation charity that owns Edinburgh Zoo.

Tian Tian and the zoo’s male, Yang Guang, are Britain’s only pair of giant pandas.

Keepers hoped that the pair would mate naturally but that was not attempted as scientists decided that Tian Tian showed signs not ”conducive to mating”.