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| Yuan Yuan had shown signs of pregnancy, including loss of appetite |
Yuan Yuan, a giant panda from Taiwan, has been caught faking her pregnancy in order to secure extra meals and an air conditioned room at her home in Taipei Zoo.
The 11-year-old panda had shown signs of pregnancy, including loss of appetite, thickening around the uterus and increasing levels of feacal progesterone since June 11, reported Chinese state newspaper, China Daily.
However, when Mainland panda experts were called in to perform an ultrasound scan confirming her condition they discovered that Yuan Yuan was not expecting after all, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
Chinese research suggested that the panda duped her handlers to secure a cooler room over the hot summer months when temperatures soar to a daily average of 34 degrees Celsius in July.
Staff at Taipei Zoo said that mothers-to-be are normally relocated to more comfortable quarters during the gestation period. Additional perks include air conditioning, extra helpings of food and more personal attention from handlers. Chinese researchers said that Yuan Yuan adapted her behaving after witnessing the special treatment given to other expectant mothers.
Yuan Yuan, who gave birth to her first male cub Yuan Zai in July 2013, was given to Taipei Zoo as a gift from the Chinese Communist Party government in December of 2008, along with her male partner Tuan Tuan. Together, their names 'tuan yuan' roughly translate at 'reunion'.
This is not the first case of pandas faking their pregnancies. Last August, Ai Hin at the Chengdu Breeding Research Centre was believed to have tricked breeders into thinking she was pregnant to receive more pampering and extra food rations. The breeders had even planned a live-broadcast of her birth which had to be cancelled .
Breeding pandas is notoriously difficult, as mating attempts can only be attempted at one specific time of year when hormone levels are at a peak.
Source: Telegraph
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