Three artificial insemination procedures, a first for Adelaide Zoo’s giant pandas

THE breeding window for Adelaide Zoo’s giant pandas has now closed — and now the waiting game begins.

THE breeding window for Adelaide Zoo’s giant pandas has now closed — and now the waiting game begins.

Zoo veterinarians, keepers and reproductive experts have worked around the clock since Friday to support Wang Wang and Fu Ni on their plight to become parents.

Three successful artificial insemination procedures were conducted over the 36-hour fertility window.

Zoos SA senior veterinarian Ian Smith said it was the first time three procedures had been conducted.

“We were extremely pleased with the three procedures with results again confirming that Wang Wang’s semen is of a high quality,” he said.

“Artificial insemination has played an important role in the captive breeding of giant pandas around the world due to the species’ unique reproductive biology.

“Their complicated reproductive biology presents a number of challenges, however ongoing research efforts continue to improve our understanding of panda reproduction and hence increase our chances of success.”

Adelaide Zoo's panda Fu Ni. Picture: Adrian Mann, Zoos SA

A giant panda reproductive specialist from the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda was in Adelaide to assist the process, which was also supported by reproductive fertility experts from Repromed.

Panda keeper Jaimee Foote said both Wang Wang and Fu Ni were recovering well and were being closely monitored by the team.

“At the moment, it’s essential that Fu Ni is not exposed to any potential stressors,” she said.

“We are now treating Fu Ni as though she is pregnant, although we’ll not be able to confirm she’s officially with cub until approximately two weeks before she would potentially give birth.”

This was the fourth “genuine attempt” to artificially inseminate Fu Ni, and Ms Foote said she felt confident that they were “closer than ever before” to achieving a giant panda cub.

The bamboo forest will remain closed for the next few days to give Fu Ni some peace and quiet to maximise the chance of success.