Unwilling panda parent Tian Tian was artificially inseminated this morning by a team of experts, flown in from Germany.
Former childhood sweethearts, the Giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yuang Guang, were both bred in Sichuan, China and lived together until they reached maturity and where flown to Scotland in December 2011, where they were forced to live separate lives at Edinburgh zoo. The following spring, when Tian Tian came into season, zoo officials reunited the panda pair, and had high hopes of hearing the patter of little panda feet. That was over two years ago and, despite the zoo's every effort; Tian Tian has continued to resist the amorous advances of her would-be suitor.
In an effort to create the right mood Edinburgh Zoo spent £280,000 on the construction of a purpose built enclosure for the Tian Tian and Yuang Guang. They even incorporated a "Love Tunnel" into the design to provide the pandas with a little privacy for their special moment and, realizing that the piped in music and panda-cams may have interfered with the romance, the zoo turned them off.
Pandas only have a small 36-hour long period in which to breed, and it comes but once a year, so the zoo has taken drastic action of forcing artificial insemination on Tian Tian and if it is successful the reluctant mother could deliver her cub or cubs in late August or early September.
