Toronto Zoo officials are hoping to welcome a new arrival in a few months after a female giant panda was artificially inseminated over the weekend.
The zoo had to resort to artificial insemination for six-year-old Er Shun because her partner, a five-year-old male panda named Da Mao, showed no interest in breeding when she went into heat.
Officials anticipated such a scenario, so they had semen from two pandas shipped to Toronto from China after jumping through red tape. It was the first time the reproductive fluid has been sent to North America by Chinese officials, the zoo confirmed Wednesday.
However, there is no guarantee the artificial insemination will be a success.
Female pandas have only one reproductive cycle per year, usually from March to May, and they are receptive to mating for just 24 to 72 hours.
The gestation period lasts about 45 days but the total “pregnancy” can last three to five-and-a-half months if there is delayed implantation of the fetus, the zoo says on its website.
Panda cubs are born blind and extremely immature, weighing only 80 to 200 grams, and they are about the size of a stick of butter, the zoo says.
Er Shun and Da Mao are on loan from China and will be on display in Toronto until 2018. After that, they will be displayed at the Calgary Zoo for five years.
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