THERE WILL BE NO BABY PANDAS FOR ATLANTA THIS YEAR. HOPE YANG YANG IS OKAY: Panda Updates Monday, June 22 Happy Monday, everyone! First, I’d love to introduce myself – I’m Stephanie Braccini, the new Curator of Mammals here at Zoo Atlanta. I’m thrilled to be here and am excited to work with the exceptional team of professionals here at the Zoo, as well as with our extraordinary animal collection. I know many of you follow our giant panda program very closely, so many of you probably know that we’ve been monitoring Lun Lun closely for signs that her peak period of fertility was approaching. This monitoring has included watching for the behavioral signs we know, as well as performing hormone analyses. After much consideration and close and regular contact with our partners at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China, we and our colleagues at Chengdu have made the joint decision not to move forward with artificial insemination (AI) with Lun Lun this year. As you’re all aware, timing is the most important factor in breeding giant pandas in zoological situations, as the females are only fertile for two or three days a year! As you probably also know from following Lun Lun’s previous cycles, her estrous cycle is atypical this year as it’s taking place in late June, rather than the February-to-May timeframe that’s typical of female giant pandas. Our Veterinary Team has been monitoring Yang Yang for lethargic behavior, and since his part of the AI process involves general anesthesia, our team has opted not to perform the procedure given that Yang Yang has not been feeling 100 percent. The only banked sperm from Yang Yang available to our team, collected earlier this year, is of poor quality. Lun Lun’s part of the process also involves general anesthesia, and especially given the fact that the AI process had a low probability of resulting in a cub this year, our colleagues in Chengdu were in full agreement with our team that animal wellness factors took precedence over the need to perform AI. We expect Lun Lun to experience the same physical and behavioral changes that are usually associated with estrus for giant panda females; these changes are all normal and are just part of this process for her. We look forward to sharing more updates this week, so stay tuned here to the blog, and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest for more great panda content. We also look forward to sharing updates on Mei Lun’s and Mei Huan’s upcoming second birthday – stay tuned for details! Stephanie Braccini, PhD Curator of Mammals
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