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 parents were Niu Niu and Ying Ying. For many years, she lived at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland.
In December 2011, Tian Tian arrived in Edinburgh. She came with a male panda named Yáng Guāng, whose name means "sunshine." They were the only two pandas living in the United Kingdom. China loaned them to the zoo from the Bifengxia Breeding Centre. This loan cost the zoo about £640,000 each year.
The original loan was for ten years. It was extended by two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2023, it was announced that Tian Tian and Yáng Guāng would return to China in December of that year. They arrived back in China on December 4, 2023.
Reproduction and Panda Cubs
When Tian Tian was in China, she successfully gave birth to twin panda cubs on August 7, 2009. The male cub was named Shen Wei, and the female was named Bo Si.
After she arrived at Edinburgh Zoo, she had an unsuccessful mating season in 2012.
In April 2013, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland performed a special procedure on her. It was the first artificial insemination procedure for a giant panda in the UK. Later, they confirmed that Tian Tian had become pregnant. However, the baby panda did not develop, and the pregnancy ended.
On August 12, 2014, Iain Valentine, a director at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, announced another attempt. A second artificial insemination had taken place. They hoped for a birth around the end of August 2014. But on September 22, 2014, Edinburgh Zoo announced that she was no longer pregnant.
On March 26, 2015, a third artificial insemination was announced. By August 2015, it was believed she had lost the cub. In October 2015, scientists said they were looking into ways to help more pandas be born at Edinburgh Zoo.
On August 24, 2017, it was shared that Edinburgh Zoo believed she was pregnant again. This was after her fifth artificial insemination 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 said that Tian Tian was not pregnant. Her hormone levels had returned to normal.
Tian Tian in the News
News about Tian Tian's pregnancies at Edinburgh Zoo became very popular. The BBC Radio 4 current affairs show PM even broadcast funny daily "Possible Panda Pregnancy Update[s]."
See also
- List of giant pandas
- List of individual bears
