Tián Tián at Edinburgh Zoo in 2012
Tián Tián sitting on branches

Tian Tian (Chinese: 甜甜; pinyin: Tián Tián, meaning "Sweetie") is a female panda born on 24 August 2003 at the Beijing Zoo from mother Niu Niu and father Ying Ying, and a former resident at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland.[1] She arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011[2] together with a male panda named Yáng Guāng (Chinese: 陽光, meaning "sunshine"). They were the only two pandas in the United Kingdom.[3] They are on loan from the Bifengxia Breeding Centre in China at a cost of £640,000 per year.[4]

The initial ten-year loan was extended by two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic; in September 2023 it was announced that the pair would return to China in December of that year.[5]

The pandas arrived in China on December 4, 2023.

Pregnancies

When in China Tian Tian, successfully gave birth to twins on 7 August 2009. The male cub was named Shen Wei and the female Bo Si.[6] After her arrival at Edinburgh Zoo she had an unsuccessful mating season in 2012.[7] In April 2013 Royal Zoological Society of Scotland performed on her the first artificial insemination procedure on a giant panda in the UK. They later confirm that Tian Tian had become pregnant, but most likely reabsorbed the foetus late term.[8] On 12 August 2014 Iain Valentine, Director of Giant Pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, announced that a second implantation had taken place, she was pregnant and birth was expected around the end of August 2014.[9] On 22 September 2014 Edinburgh Zoo announced that she was no longer pregnant.[10] On 26 March 2015 it was announced that a third artificial insemination had taken place[11] but by August 2015 it was believed she had lost the cub.[12][13] In October 2015 scientists said they were exploring cloning the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo.[13]

On 24 August 2017 it was revealed that Edinburgh Zoo had believed she was pregnant again after being artificially inseminated for the fifth time in 2016.[14] The expected date for a birth was as early as 25 August 2017[14] although the Zoo said was hard to predict and the panda breeding season can last until late September.[15] On 11 September 2017, the Zoo said that Tian Tian was not pregnant and her hormone levels had returned to normal.[16]

In the media

The coverage of Tian Tian's pregnancies at Edinburgh Zoo became so widespread that BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme PM broadcast satirical daily "Possible Panda Pregnancy Update[s]".[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ Carrell, Severin (4 December 2011). "Giant pandas touch down in Edinburgh". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Page not found - Edinburgh Zoo". www.edinburghzoo.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  4. ↑ Nicholls, Henry (2 December 2011). "What price captive pandas?". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Edinburgh Zoo's giant pandas to return to China in December". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  6. ↑ "Edinburgh Zoo | www.GiantPandaZoo.com". Archived from the original on 31 July 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Giant pandas fail to mate". The Guardian.
  8. ↑ "Edinburgh Zoo panda Tian Tian 'no longer pregnant'". BBC News. 15 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "Page not found - Edinburgh Zoo". www.edinburghzoo.org.uk. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  10. ↑ "News World news Animals Edinburgh zoo says giant panda Tian Tian is no longer pregnant". The Guardian. 22 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "Giant Panda Breeding Season Update". Edinburgh Zoo. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Edinburgh zoo panda no longer believed to be pregnant". BBC News, Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Scottish scientists looking at ways to clone Edinburgh pandas". The Guardian. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Edinburgh Zoo 'believes giant panda Tian Tian is pregnant'". 24 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Edinburgh panda 'believed to be pregnant'". BBC News. 24 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Carrell, Severin (11 September 2017). "Edinburgh zoo's giant panda fails to produce cub". The Guardian.
  17. ↑ "Pandering to the media: What we can learn from Britain's panda watch". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
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