Memphis Zoo tries again to get panda pregnant
Photo by Alan Spearman
Ya Ya
Ya Ya, the Memphis Zoo’s female giant panda, has been artificially inseminated again, and zoo officials are once more hoping for a successful pregnancy.
Ya Ya was inseminated several weeks ago, but there needs to be a second hormone spike as a positive indicator that she’s pregnant. That occurs from 60 to 90 days after insemination, which could be as late as June, said Abbey Dane, director of marketing and communications.
If that spike occurs, a birth could happen within 45 days, Dane said.
Ya Ya will be 12 in August. There have been four unsuccessful attempts to impregnate her since her first fertility period at age 6.
She has typically gone into estrus between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most pandas become fertile between March and May.
Efforts were made last year to adjust her environment in the hopes that her cycle would shift to be more in line with pandas in the wild.
The National Zoo in Washington, Zoo Atlanta and the San Diego Zoo are the only other U.S. zoos with giant pandas, all owned by the Chinese government.
Memphis, however, is the only U. S. zoo with pandas that has not had cubs.
“The tricky thing is her mom did this too. Her mom operated the same way and here’s Ya Ya,” Dane said. “So there’s always hope.”
Two panda cubs playing at the Bifengxia Panda Reserve on May 1,...
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