Panda Updates- Monday, October 16

What is pseudopregnancy? If you’ve been following us for a while, you’re familiar with this phenomenon in adult female giant pandas. At 7 years old, Ya Lun and Xi Lun are both fully mature adult pandas, and as such, are starting to experience some of the seasonal hormonal changes that reproductive female giant pandas will experience, including pseudopregnancy. Pseudopregnancy is a normal process for female giant pandas. If you’re less familiar, with pseudopregnancy, the female panda’s body goes through the same physiological changes seen in pregnancy, including hormone fluctuations, even though she is not pregnant.

Xi Lun has recently begun a pseudopregnancy and as such, is showing similar behaviors as she would if she were pregnant. She is spending less of her time eating and more of her time resting, and is also preferring to spend most of her time behind the scenes where she has a quiet, peaceful place to nap and nest. Pseudopregnancy tends to last up to about six weeks, so soon enough, she will be back to the more active version of herself. But for now, you may not see her as frequently in the dayrooms or in the outdoor habitats as she chooses to have some peaceful pseudopregnancy “R and R.”

Megan R.
Keeper II, Mammals