Panda Pregnancy Proves False
posted 12:08 pm Fri July 06, 2007 - Washington
It was a false alarm. The National Zoo's giant panda isn't pregnant after all.
The zoo has announced its staff determined that Mei Xiang was experiencing a false pregnancy. She was artificially inseminated in April.
Based on hormone readings, the zoo had said a cub could have been born anytime between Friday and July 16th. But this is the fourth time Mei Xiang has had a pseudo-pregnancy.
Zoo scientists expect Mei Xiang's hormones and behavior to return to normal in the coming days.
The pregnancy watch came just days before the birthday of Tai Shan, the zoo's first surviving panda cub. He turns two on Monday.
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