Reproductive scientists at the National Zoo in Washington are hoping a pregnancy will result after two artificial inseminations of a female giant panda, the zoo said on Friday.
Mei Xiang, an 18-year-old giant panda, received the artificial inseminations on Thursday, the zoo said on Twitter.
She was inseminated with semen from the zoo's 19-year-old male panda Tian Tian, the zoo said in a news release.
The zoo's reproductive scientists and veterinarians now are watching her hormone levels in her urine and her behaviour to see if she becomes pregnant.
Timing is everything when it comes to the breeding of giant pandas. The females are in heat for only 24 to 72 hours each year.
Mei Xiang's estrogen level peaked on Wednesday - a sign that she was ovulating, the zoo said.
Zoo experts tried to get the pandas to breed naturally, but they showed interest only at "incongruent times," according to the news release.
Veterinarian Pierre Comizzoli said the two pandas didn't show that they were interested in each other so they decided to inseminate Mei Xiang before the window closed.
"Everything went really well," Comizzoli said, according to the Washington Post. He said she has recovered and was eating well and in "great shape."
Giant panda Mei Xiang walks in her outdoor enclosure at the National Zoo in Washington in this file picture.
