NEW STRATEGY FOR PANDA MATING IN DENMARK

NEW STRATEGY FOR PANDA MATING IN DENMARK

SHORT VNR

NEW STRATEGY FOR PANDA MATING IN DENMARK

COPENHAGEN

DENMARK

MARCH 2

PRODUCER ANDERS

LENGTH: 1:53

LONG VNR

NEW STRATEGY FOR PANDA MATING IN DENMARK

COPENHAGEN

DENMARK

MARCH 2

PRODUCER ANDERS

LENGTH: 3:29

STORY

The Copenhagen Zoo is getting ready for the two panda´s spring romance, that is the only time during the year, that a female panda can get pregnant.

For the last two years have female Mao Sun and male Xing Er been together for only this 2-3 days So far – no luck.

A new strategy is now to put female Mao Sun and male Xing Er together a few weeks before, so they can get more syncronized, as zoological director at the ZOO Mads Bertelsen explains: “It is in the hope that they will get the fighting and so on done. And then be able to focus on the meeting when that time actually come.”

 

The zoological director hopes given them more time together will help, mature now 5 year old Xing Er to be able to act in the  window of two or three days when Mao Sun is in heat.

Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO continues:
“I’m not sure that we really can prepare the male. Basically, what we’ve seen in past years is that the female is very ready. She clearly shows her interest and he has been much more interested in his food.”

The first two years did male Xing Er show  interested, but slowly he rather sat by himself and eat bamboo.


“We’ve imported some urine from other males” says Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO. ”Maybe it will create a sense of competition that might make our male be a little bit more focused.”

 

A special panda thing is that the male pandas often urin handstand.

The pandas liked to leave their scent higher off the ground, maximizing the size of the odor field. 

 

Female Mao Sun is 6 years old now and full of vitality.

Here keepers and her are very close and can communicate.
Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO cont.:
“We inspect them for health checks so we can see their mouth, we can check their eyes etc. On top of this, the female has learned to lie down so that we can see her genitals to see if she is ready.”
The scanning is made now, so Mao Sun is used to it, when she hopefully gets pregnant.

 

Copenhagen Zoo  prefer that things go as naturally as possible, because it is best for the animals’ behavior and welfare. The success rate after artificial sperm transfer is also significantly lower than after natural mating.

 

Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO explains: “The pandas have lived here for four years now, so they are very used to their surroundings. I think actually it only took a few months for them to settle in”.

 

The problem is that they don’t quite know what to do and that they only have the one time a year to practice getting synchronized. 

Last year, there was a bit of optimism to be found among the panda team at the ZOO.

Mao Sun and Xing Er did things, that happens when pandas mate. So there were small signs in the positive direction.


Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO continuous:

“They are very calm, they are very tolerant of their environment here and they like there keepers and their condition. So I think they are very unstressed animals.”

 

When time comes will female Mao Sun start bathing more, put more fresh scent markings, start bleating like a sheep and put herself in the “sawbuck” position. 

ZOO hopes that the male has become more mature this year.
The act should be around May 24.

If successful a panda cub will appear in August-September this year.
End

SHOTLIST

  • PAN OF PANDA ENCLOSURE IN COPENHAGEN ZOO
  • GATE BETWEEN PANDAS OPENING
  • SOUNDBITE Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO:
    “What we will probably do this year is introduce them earlier than we have done previously, and that is in the hope that they will get the fighting and so on done. And then be able to focus on the meeting when that time actually come.”
  • PANDAS PLAYING AND FIGHTING
  • FEMALE PANDA MAO SUN MAKING SOUNDS
  • SOUNDBITE Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO cont:
    “I’m not sure that we really can prepare the male. Basically, what we’ve seen in past years is that the female is very ready. She clearly shows her interest and he has been much more interested in his food.”
  • MALE PANDA XING ER EATS WHILE FEMALE PANDA IS READY TO MATE
  • SOUNDBITE Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO cont:
    “What we have done last year and that we will do again this year is we’ve imported some urine from other males. And we can put this urine in the enclosure and maybe create a sense of competition that might make our male be a little bit more focused.”
  • STAFF IS SEEN PLACING URINE ON THE ENCLOUSURE
  • PANDA URINATES HANDSTANDED.
  • SOUNDBITE Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO cont.:
    “So both animals are trained with little pieces of apple to allow us to inspect them for health checks, so we can see their mouth, we can check their eye etc.. On top of this, the female has learned to lie down so that we can see her genitals, to see if she is ready, and we can also palpate her and potentially even ultrasound her.”
  • PANDA HAS ITS TEETH INSPECTED BY KEEPERS
  • PANDA GETS ULTRASOUND SCANNED
  • PANDAS GENITALS IS PHOTOGRAPHED 
  • SOUNDBITE Mads Frost Bertelsen, Director, Copenhagen ZOO cont.:
    “The pandas have lived here for four years now, so they are very used to their surroundings. I think after actually it only took a few months for them to settle in, so I don’t think that much has changed since last year in that respect. But they are very calm, they are very tolerant of their environment here and they like there keepers and their condition. So I think they are very unstressed animals.”
  • PANDA PLAYING WITH BALL
  • PANDA EATING
  • PANDAS IN SAME ENCLOSURE
    END