By
Emma Reynolds
02:12 EST, 3 April 2012
|
05:18 EST, 3 April 2012
The long road to love may finally be over for two giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo.
Tian Tian ovulates just once a year, and has a window of just two days in which to get pregnant.
And her tryst with prospective lover Yang Guan must be carefully managed, as the pair could fight if they are introduced too early.
Longing looks: Yang Guang, left, gazes through the fence of his enclosure at Tian Tian, who he will meet and possibly mate with in the next two days
The pandas shared an enclosure briefly yesterday but remained separate – and Tian Tian should be ready to mate today or tomorrow.
Keepers at the Scottish zoo have done everything in their power to provide the perfect conditions for the two animals.
The pandas were shipped over all the way from Ya’an reserve in Chengdu, China, on December 4 last year.
The zoo has also built a climbing frame to enable them to see each other over the tops of their enclosures and a special ‘love tunnel’ where the pair can meet if they are feeling amorous.
The zoo’s Rachel Goddard told The Times: ‘They were scent-making like crazy. He knows she’s about to ovulate. She’s been rolling around in his hay and he’s been rubbing his head all over her tree.’
Balancing act: Tian Tian the female Panda cools down in her pool at Edinburgh Zoo, where everything possible has been done to ensure she gets pregnant
Every day for the past six weeks, Tian Tian’s urine has been sent to Chester Zoo to see if she has ovulated.
‘They syringe it all up from the ground when the panda moves,’ added Ms Goddard. ‘It does sound bizarre but that’s the best way of doing it.’
A special nursery has also been built for any offspring the pair may have.
There had been concern Tian Tian was more attracted to Yang Guang than he to her, but Iain Valentine said that after a delay, he had now started calling out to her and scenting her area.
Both Tian Tian and Yang Guang have bred before – though not with each other.
Pandas are notoriously reluctant when it comes to breeding their tiny, blind babies often do not survive.
Experts believe there are now only 2,500 pandas left in the wild, so much is resting on a successful relationship between these two.
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och aye, dimmed lights, fresh bamboo for 2 and bit of Barry White in the background- job done! Sounds like the zoo keeper couldnt contain her excitement!
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AAhh ….. panda heaven!! Good Luck with the breeding Sweetie and Sunshine!!
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Fancy having to peform in front of an audience – a bit of privacy wouldn’t go amiss!
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Very exciting. We look in on Yang Guang every day on the cam, he is so cute. However, the cam could be a lot better. See explore.org – three pandas together in China, and very entertaining as they argue over one bamboo cane. Edinburgh zoo – please improve your pandacam!
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