Zoo Aquarium de Madrid Any sign of giant panda cubs

kiang

kiang

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I found this youtube video, to me it looks as though the female giant panda at Madrid zoo is being either prepared for artificial insemination or actually being inseminated.
Can anyone confirm this, as my Spanish is non existent:confused:

 
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Are you right kiang! the panda female living in Madrid was artificially inseminated few days ago, in Madrid are waiting for the pregnancy confirmation.
 
That's cool, let's hope for cubs :)
Don't Madrid have a male though?
 
Madrid zoo have a couple,but seems like if male and female were not very "good mutual" but I'm not sure about this...
 
It will be quite a few months before you will have confirmation of a pregnancy! :eek:

Off-the-record: I am a bit un-chuffed they have not tried for a good trial period of a year or more to let the 1.1 get on themselves. It seems a little contrived to already denote their relationship difficult.

If we are ever to save giant pandas period ... we will have to learn a lot more about the not so AI ways of giant panda reproductive behaviour, cues, play and bonding behaviour, social structure and composition and how compatible pairings are developed.

Only THIS will stimulate real progress in terms of species regeneration in captivity and in the wild (remember P.R. of China is intending to develop a gene pool for reintroduction to the wild and is well on the way of having 4-6 candidates for release soon).
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
It will be quite a few months before you will have confirmation of a pregnancy! :eek:
Click to expand...

Well, they might find a cub on ultrasound just 1-3 weeks before birth. When the panda is pregnant with the first cub in most cases you won't find anything. Checking hormone levels just shows that something is going on but it does not tell you whether it's a pregnancy or just a pseudo-pregnancy.

Kifaru Bwana said:
Off-the-record: I am a bit un-chuffed they have not tried for a good trial period of a year or more to let the 1.1 get on themselves. It seems a little contrived to already denote their relationship difficult.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree. AFAIK, Hua Zui Ba is only 6 years old, she is young enough to have several cubs in her life. AI was not a bit necessary. Frankly, a giant panda cub means a media hype, lots of visitors and lots of money for a zoo.

I'm really glad that the staff at the Zoo of Vienna is going a different way. No AI, no unnatural weaning & seperation of the cub to produce the next cub as soon as possible, adults are allowed to join each other pretty often not only for mating ...
 
The problem with most of these Panda pairs outside China is they don't have a chance for 'mate selection'. In the wild several males are attracted by the female's bleating call when she is in heat, and the biggest, strongest or otherwise most attractive to her wins the mating rights. At the Chinese breeding centres too they have plenty of males so can change partners where mating isn't happening(for whatever reasons) This can't happen in Western Zoos where there is just 1.1. Pandas, so some of the stimulus for mating must undoubtedly be lacking.

But I still agree it is far preferable to encourage natural mating, even if it involves moving the males around temporarily to allow the females to 'choose' another partner if they don't like the one they have.
 
Pertinax said:
But I still agree it is far preferable to encourage natural mating, even if it involves moving the males around temporarily to allow the females to 'choose' another partner if they don't like the one they have.
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With them only in season once a year, this makes it harder to try one or two males with the female. As this may mean that one zoo does not have breeding male.

I think most zoos should just give up and send them back to China and spend the money on two or three other species.
 
I really think, the only real reason for to have giants pandas in Madrid it easy...make money,this "too much" popular species attracts much public,and this public expend his money in zoo, no more.Breeding and conservation or others, are welcome reasons,but not the mainly reason.
 
Sad news from a newspaper in Madrid:

The Madrid zoo´s panda female loses her baby, expected four months ago, the panda has suffered a "resorption" of the embryo before implantation in the uterus. This process occurs because the size of the fetus is "very small" is very common in giant pandas, especially first-time pregnancies, such as Hua Zui Ba, detail from the Madrid Zoo Aquarium.
 
According the news she it´s ok!,and waiting the next year for to try again the pregnancy.
 
oh that's good! I hope that her second birth when it does happen is much smoother.
 
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