SINGAPORE: Love is in the air again for the River Safari’s giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia, who are both gearing up for another shot at having offspring.
In a media release on Wednesday (Mar 27), Wildlife Reserves Singapore said visitors to the River Safari from now till May may see “some intriguing courtship” from the pair in their third attempt at natural mating.
Jia Jia takes an interest in Kai Kai (lying down). (Photo: Wildlife Reserves Singapore)
“As early as February, Kai Kai and Jia Jia have shown early signs that the mating season was coming soon,” WRS said, adding that the mating season typically runs from March to May.
Ahead of the mating season, both pandas were given a clean bill of health during their annual check-up last month. The check included x-rays of Jia Jia’s abdomen, the collection of urine samples as well as a dental and eye checks.
Jia Jia undergoing an eye check by veterinary ophthalmologist Dr Rui Oliveira. (Photo: Wildlife Reserves Singapore)
Ten-year-old Kai Kai and nine-year-old Jia Jia entered mating season for the first time in 2015 but both natural mating and artificial insemination had been unsuccessful.
NEW TECHNIQUES TO STIMULATE MATING
For the coming season, keepers have fine-tuned techniques to stimulate their mating instincts, WRS said.
Kai Kai and Jia Jia’s exhibits were swopped in November 2016, two months earlier than they did for previous mating seasons. WRS said this helps to encourage hormonal changes when smelling the scent of the opposite gender.
As with previous mating seasons, keepers continued to vary daylight hours and temperature at River Safari’s Giant Panda Forest. This simulates the seasonal transition from winter to spring in their homeland in Sichuan, China, triggering the breeding cycle of the pair – the first of their kind to live so close to the equator.
Vets and keepers are watching the behaviour of the two pandas as well as monitoring Jia Jia’s hormonal levels. Female giant pandas have a window of only 24 to 36 hours to get pregnant – and once Jia Jia’s oestrogen level falls, the pandas will be taken out of their exhibits for three days so they can mate in their dens, WRS said.
WRS added that during those three days, visitors to River Safari will not be able to see Kai Kai and Jia Jia in the Giant Panda Forest.
