D.C. Heat: Panda Love Calls Fill Washington Air
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WASHINGTON — The chirping and bleating of the panda love call returned to the National Zoo today as Ling-Ling was pronounced ready for motherhood again with the aid of modern medicine.
“I’m much more encouraged than I was last week” that Ling-Ling, mother of America’s first two panda cubs, who died in infancy, and her partner Hsing-Hsing will mate again, Ling-Ling’s keeper, Beth Frank, said.
Panda mating season has traditionally arrived at the zoo in the spring. But Ling-Ling’s interest in reproducing faded this year, and scientists this month injected her with a hormone to bring her into heat.
“We have a lot of vocalizations from her. She’s chirping and bleating,” Frank said. “Last week, she would not even let him come near her.”
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