Another possible panda cub in Berlin: mother animal Meng Meng is pregnant again
However, a happy outcome is not yet guaranteed. "Despite all the enthusiasm, we must be aware that this is a very early stage of pregnancy and a so-called resorption - i.e., the death of the embryo - is still possible at this point," cautioned veterinarian Franziska Sutter. The zoo will closely monitor the development with further ultrasound examinations and hormone analyses. Currently, the embryos are about 2.5 centimeters in size.
It is hoped that everything will go as well as it did in 2019, Sutter added. Five years ago, Meng Meng gave birth to twins Pit and Paule at the Berlin Zoo. It was the first panda offspring in Germany, causing excitement far beyond the German capital. Since December 2023, the two cubs have been living in the Chengdu Panda Base in China.
According to the zoo, artificial insemination was performed on Meng Meng again in March 2024. Female giant pandas are only fertile for about 72 hours a year. Meng Meng's pregnancy could only now be confirmed because the typical ovulation delay in pandas can prevent immediate implantation of the fertilized egg. Only when the environmental conditions are favorable does the pregnancy continue and the embryo grow.
Ultrasound examinations in pandas are not an easy task, the zoo said. For two hours on Sunday, keepers and veterinarians tried to capture the images, and it was only just before the attempt was abandoned that they succeeded. "This was only possible thanks to the special bond between humans and animals," emphasized the head of the department for reproduction management at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Thomas Hildebrandt.
In addition to Hildebrandt and other IZW experts, colleagues from the Chinese Chengdu Panda Base have also traveled to Berlin for support. Everything is well prepared for the birth, the zoo announced.
For visitors, Meng Meng is currently not continuously visible. She is very sleepy. The three-year-old male Jiao Qing is holding the fort in the meantime. Giant pandas are generally solitary, and males are not involved in the care of cubs in the natural habitat, the Berlin Zoo reported further.
Meng Meng and Jiao Qing came to Berlin from China in 2017 - as a loan for an initially 15-year period. China has been pursuing a so-called panda diplomacy for some time now, lending the sought-after animals to zoos in other countries to gain international influence.
In the wild, giant pandas are only found in the mountains of central China, where their main food source, bamboo, grows. According to the Berlin Zoo, there are currently about 2000 individuals. They are listed as endangered on the "Red List" of the World Conservation Union. The fragmentation of their habitat by roads, railways, and agriculture is a problem for the solitary animals, making it difficult for them to find each other during the short mating season.
The success of this current pregnancy in Meng Meng, if it continues, could potentially make headlines again, just like the birth of Pit and Paule at the Berlin Zoo did in 2019, which was the first panda offspring in Germany. If everything goes well, they might join their siblings in the Chengdu Panda Base in China after their birth.
In preparation for the upcoming birth, veterinarians from both Berlin and the Chengdu Panda Base are closely monitoring Meng Meng's pregnancy with frequent ultrasound examinations and hormone analyses, as the process can be challenging in pandas.
