French Zoo Announces First Panda Pregnancy Ever! Giant Panda Huan Huan is Likey to Give Birth in August!

The female panda's delivery is due in either August 4 or 5, and it is said that it likely weighs in at around just 100 grammes.

The French Zoo officials were bursting with joy and excitement on Wednesday as they announced that their female giant panda is pregnant. A scan conducted by the zoo revealed that Huan Huan and her male partner Yuan Zi, are expecting their first baby panda in August. The zoo’s communications director Delphine Delord was quoted by AFP saying, “It’s exceptional. We just exploded in joy as we’ve been waiting such a long time for this moment. It also gives us hope for the conservation of pandas, which in nature are in danger of extinction.”

The nine-year-old pandas are the giant pandas who are living in France and have arrived in Beauval in 2012. Outside China, only 19 zoos around the globe have allowed houses to pandas. Breeding pandas and taking care of them is a bit tedious job. The female panda in France is in heat once a year for about 48 hours. Ms Delord said that they brought Huan Huan and her beau in February with the hope that the two would mate.

But unfortunately it did not happen, and they had to give an artificial insemination. She said, “So we did an artificial insemination.” She further added saying that, a panda’s gestation period is only 50 days, so the baby cub is due in August. The female panda’s delivery is due in either August 4 or 5, and it is said that it likely weighs in at around just 100 grammes.

Well, she further added saying that if the pregnancy and the birth of the baby cub goes well, then the cub will leave for Beauval in the next two to three years to be returned to China. There are around 2,000 pandas in the world and are termed as vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Last year the zoo officials were quite disappointed as Huan Huan had a fake pregnancy.

The giant panda showed signs of pregnancy like reduced appetite. But after few months of observations by the experts, the panda’s behaviour and physiological tests returned to normal. And it was stated that the female giant panda faked her pregnancy to receive good food. As soon as the France Zoo authorities announced the first ever panda pregnancy, people are going gaga over this news. Are you guys too excited? Do let us know in the comment section below.