Panda-monium at Edinburgh Zoo!

It’s a big day for the giant pandas of the world.

This morning (August 12) Edinburgh Zoo announced the exciting news of the possible pregnancy of their female giant panda, Tian Tian (pictured above).

The nature of panda pregnancies means it is difficult to confirm if the artificial insemination was a success, but new scientific tests show that Tian Tian’s progesterone levels are high and so Edinburgh could see its first baby giant panda by the end of the month.

Unite has members working at the zoo – including animal keepers. Gillian McKay, Unite regional officer, commented, “The news of Tian Tian’s possible pregnancy is wonderful for the pandas and welcome news for all our Unite members who work at Edinburgh Zoo.

“If Tian Tian is pregnant then previous concerns for the future of the zoo can be put aside. The birth of Scotland’s first giant panda would greatly attract tourists and secure members’ jobs.”

Meanwhile, the BBC today reported that ‘miracle’ panda triplets have been born in China’s Guangzhou’s Chimelong Safari Park.

The trio are thought to be the world’s first surviving triplet pandas and the zoo is calling them “a new wonder of the world.”

Captive pandas are part of a breeding programme to replenish the population that has been pushed to the brink of extinction by poaching and deforestation. Artificial insemination is being used following numerous failed attempts at natural reproduction.

There are just 1,600 pandas left in the wild, according to the WWF.

Here are 10 things you might not know about panda pregnancies and newborns…

1.   At birth, they weigh in between four and six pounds – 900 times smaller than the size of its mother. By comparison, an 8 lb human baby would have a 7,200 lb mother

2.   Measuring the same as a stick of butter, baby pandas are the smallest new born of any non-marsupial mammal

3.   They grow really, really slowly

4.   A fertilized panda egg “floats” around the reproductive tract for any length of time before implantation – this makes it impossible to accurately determine a pregnancy

5.   This also means that the gestation period is also impossible to predict, but it is usually around 95 to 160 days from conception

6.   Female pandas can only conceive for two to three days each spring

7.   Some pandas only have one baby every two years, meaning some female pandas might only raise seven young in her lifetime

8.   More than half of all giant panda litters born in captivity are twins, and, despite the myth, panda mothers can effectively raise both

9.   Baby pandas cannot move on their own for nearly three months from birth and stay with their mother for another two years before venturing off

10.   New born cubs are born completely defenceless – tiny, hairless, and blind.