False pregnancy for giant panda
From Times Wire Reports
The National Zoo won’t be hearing oohs and aahs over a new panda cub this year. Zoo officials said that the giant panda Mei Xiang was not pregnant after all.
Her hormone levels had soared after she was artificially inseminated, then dropped, signaling a cub could be born. But an ultrasound showed no fetus, and zoo officials determined she wasn’t pregnant. False pregnancies are common in pandas, and Mei Xiang has had four.
Her only cub, Tai Shan, turns 2 on Monday.
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