Edinburgh Zoo Panda Is No Longer Pregnant

Scientists say Tian Tian suffered a late-term miscarriage

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Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Tian Tian the female panda bear looks out from her enclosure as members of the public view her for the first time at Edinburgh Zoo on December 16, 2011.

Tian Tian, the female giant panda at Edinburgh Zoo, has miscarried the fetus she had carried into late-term, reports the BBC.

The giant panda was artificially inseminated at the zoo in April and zoo keepers had observed signs that indicated she had successfully conceived. Yet a veterinary team reviewed the latest records of Tian Tian’s hormone levels and behavior patterns on Tuesday and concluded that she was no longer pregnant. Chris West, the CEO for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said in a statement released by the zoo, “Our dedicated team of keepers, veterinary staff and many others worked tirelessly to ensure Tian Tian received the best care possible, which included remote observation and closing the panda enclosure to visitors to give her quiet and privacy. We are conducting a detailed review of the scientific data collected, but I am totally confident that we did everything it was possible to do.”

(PHOTOS: Tiny Giant Pandas at Chengdu Research Base)

Elsewhere in the U.K., Sky News reports that zoo keepers at the London Zoo discovered that a two-week old tiger cub – the first to be born at the zoo in 17 years – had drowned in a pool inside its enclosure early Saturday morning. Zoo keepers say that it’s still unclear how the cub got into the pool.

[BBC]

[Sky News]

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