Anxious to see its two pandas slow to reproduce, the Copenhagen zoo has started a new strategy to promote the love of an animal known to have trouble reproducing. The zoological park in the Danish capital has decided to put them in the same enclosure a month earlier than usual so that they can tame each other before the heat, rather than bickering at the fateful period.
"Let's go for the panda date," the zoo wrote on its website Wednesday, along with images of the two mammals eyeing each other proving that "there is no love in the world (yet). air ". On loan from China for fifteen years, Mao Sun and Xing Er arrived in Copenhagen in the spring of 2019 and since then all breeding attempts have been unsuccessful. "We're trying a successful approach with our polar bears and brown bears, which is putting them together right now, even though Mao Sun won't be ready for several weeks," the vet explained. Mads Frost Bertelsen.
The panda's heat period is only two to three days, and zoo officials hope their new strategy will allow the animals to reacquaint themselves, bicker, and vent resentment and passion before the only window of shot. “Pandas live alone and don't like the company of others very much. Except for the few days a year when the female is in heat," said Mads Frost Bertelsen. “The first few days they are together can lead to some serious fights. We hope that with the extra time together they will be done fighting and can focus on mating when the time is right."
Reproduction of pandas is particularly difficult in captivity. Females are only fertile for twenty-four to thirty-six hours in the spring, according to the International Panda Conservation Organization. "The problem is that they don't really know what to do and they only have once a year to train," the vet noted. "We found that they had trouble synchronizing. When the female was doing her job, the male was busy with something else, and vice versa. According to Pandas International, their population currently stands at 1,864 worldwide, with about 600 in captivity.
