Giant Pandas Fail to Mate
So cute but no spark. Tian Tian (Sweetie, female) & Yang Guang (Sunshine, male) had a window of just 36 hours to mate & despite "natural sparks" flying between them, they did not. The 8-year-old pair arrived in Scotland from Ya'an reserve in Chengdu, China, on December 4 last year. They went on show to visitors for the 1st time December 16. Keepers at Edinburgh Zoo - which will be their home for 10 years - opened a "love tunnel" between their enclosures after tests showed the time was ready; they met 5 times on Tuesday & several times again yesterday & had shown signs of attraction to each other.
Tian Tian had "called out incessantly to Yang Guang" & pressed her paws & nose up to the grate separating them. Both were keen to mate & have both bred before with other pandas, but their inexperience together showed. Keepers say that while a baby panda would have been a "bonus", it is only the 1st attempt in a 10-year project. They are the 1st giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years. (Read more at The Independent-Watch Pandacam HERE)