Officials chose to artificially inseminate Yuan Yuan after her partner Tuan Tuan’s best efforts failed to get the job done
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/02/22
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The large female panda at the Taipei Zoo, Yuan Yuan, has been
Yuan Yuan, a Panda at the Taipei Zoo, undergoes artificial insemination (By Agencies)
artificially inseminated, it has been reported, after her partner Tuan Tuan, failed to mate with her during the height of her fertility cycle.
Despite his best efforts, and being denied the opportunity for almost an entire year, Tuan Tuan was unable to deliver on the spot. The missed opportunity led officials at the zoo to the decision to go ahead and help in the reproduction process.
The two pandas were given to Taiwan as a gesture of goodwill from China in 2008 at the beginning of the first term of the Ma administration. Yuan Yuan has undergone the artificial insemination procedure before, resulting in the birth of the pair’s cub Yuan Zai on July 6, 2013.
According to the report at the Daily Mail, female pandas are generally only in heat for a 24 to 72 hour window every spring. This year, Feb. 20 was decided as the best window of opportunity for Yuan Yuan and Tuan Tuan to do things the old fashioned way.
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