Tian Tian (female giant panda) facts for kids
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Tian Tian (which means "Sweetie" in Chinese) is a female panda. She was born on August 24, 2003, at the Beijing Zoo. Her mother was Niu Niu, and her father was Ying Ying.
Tian Tian lived at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland for many years. She arrived there in December 2011. She came with a male panda named Yáng Guāng, whose name means "sunshine." They were the only two pandas living in the United Kingdom.
These pandas were on loan from the Bifengxia Breeding Centre in China. The loan cost £640,000 each year. Their first loan was for ten years. It was made longer by two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tian Tian and Yang Guang returned to China in December 2023. They arrived back in China on December 4, 2023.
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Tian Tian's Reproduction Journey
Panda Cubs in China
Before coming to Scotland, Tian Tian had a successful birth in China. She gave birth to twin panda cubs on August 7, 2009. The male cub was named Shen Wei, and the female cub was named Bo Si.
Efforts to Have Cubs in Scotland
After Tian Tian arrived at Edinburgh Zoo, people hoped she would have more cubs. In 2012, she had an unsuccessful mating season.
In April 2013, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland tried a special procedure to help her get pregnant. This was the first time such a procedure was done on a giant panda in the UK. They later confirmed that Tian Tian was pregnant. However, she sadly lost the baby panda before it was born.
On August 12, 2014, the zoo announced another attempt had been made. They thought she was pregnant again, and a birth was expected around the end of August 2014. But on September 22, 2014, Edinburgh Zoo shared that she was no longer pregnant.
Another special procedure took place on March 26, 2015. By August 2015, it was believed she had lost that cub too. In October 2015, scientists even talked about the possibility of making copies of the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo.
On August 24, 2017, it was announced that the zoo believed she was pregnant again. This was after a fifth special procedure in 2016. A birth was expected as early as August 25, 2017. However, the zoo said it was hard to predict. The panda breeding season can last until late September. On September 11, 2017, the zoo confirmed that Tian Tian was not pregnant. Her hormone levels had returned to normal.
Tian Tian in the News
Tian Tian's possible pregnancies at Edinburgh Zoo became very famous. Many news outlets reported on her. The BBC Radio 4 programme PM even broadcast funny daily "Possible Panda Pregnancy Update[s]".
See Also
- List of giant pandas
- List of individual bears
