Panda may (or may not) be pregnant

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Zoo Atlanta's prolific panda Lun Lun may well be pregnant again.

Enlarge photo

Vino Wong, AJC file A hormone analysis suggests that Lun Lun may be pregnant for a third time.

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The 12-year-old giant panda has produced two offspring since 2006, and a hormone analysis suggests she may be carrying a third, the zoo announced Thursday.

She was artificially inseminated in June after her traditional mate, Yang Yang, again proved uninterested during her brief window of fertility. A few days later, zoo officials announced that the procedure was a success, even if pregnancy was not guaranteed.

Giant panda pregnancies are problematic. They seem to disprove the aphorism that "you can't be kind of pregnant."

The animals sometimes exhibit signs of pregnancy without actually being pregnant. Their tiny fetuses are nearly impossible to detect with ultrasound. And they often miscarry.

"Lun Lun would be in the very early stages of pregnancy and the pregnancy could be lost -- a common phenomenon in giant pandas," zoo spokeswoman Keisha Hines said.

If Lun Lun is pregnant, it's anybody's guess when the cub will come. Giant pandas gestate for anywhere from three to six months, with the average being 135 days.

These are an endangered species, and captive births are rare. So a pregnancy would be a cause for celebration at the zoo.

If any panda can do it, though, Lun Lun can.

She has successfully given birth to two cubs at the zoo, both with the same medical intervention -- and oblivious cooperation from Yang Yang: female Mei Lan, 3, and male Xi Lan, 1.

Mei Lan, whose mere presence on television monitors wowed zoo crowds, was sent to Chengdu, China. Xi Lan, now weighing about 100 pounds, remains in Atlanta.

Lun Lun won't have the most peaceful time in coming weeks. Zoo officials said they plan to watch her closely, conducting physiological and behavioral monitoring while also submitting her to ultrasound procedures.