The return of spring inspired them.
This Saturday, March 20, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, the couple of giant pandas from the Beauval zoo (Loir-et-Cher), let themselves be carried away by the mating season.
Vocalises, unequivocal looks, suitable positions ... the most famous Ursidae in France, have (strongly) come together no less than eight times, throughout the day.
Lovemaking, there was some but did they "really" go to the end of the coupling?
The answer lies in the privacy of their bedroom (called here "night lodge") where these solitary animals are found only once a year.
“For several days, signs announced the heat of Huan Huan.
It marked its smell more on the ground, had lowered its consumption of bamboo, says Baptiste Mulot, the veterinary chief of the zoo.
Thanks to the hormonal tests, we knew she was fertile on Saturday.
The clock is then set: a female panda remains fertile for only 24 to 48 hours and only once a year.
The male Yuan Zi, known as “Rondouillard”, and the female Huan Huan, known as “Joyeuse” ./ZooParc de Beauval
Stars of Beauval since 2012, “Joyeuse” and “Rondouillard” - the translation of the first names of these natives of Chengdu, in central China - are already parents.
On August 4, 2017, at 10:32 p.m., the birth of the male Yuan Meng was a real event in France, which celebrated the first baby born on its soil, as in China.
The objective of the partnership between the two countries was achieved: to preserve the species by making it reproduce.
"This time, the lights are green"
Since then, the 12-year-old plantigrades had only given cover once, on December 23, 2019, without pregnancy success.
“This time, the lights are green, hopes Dr. Mulot.
To complete the chances, artificial insemination was also performed at night, thanks to a Belgian researcher and German specialists in the reproduction of exotic animals.
The season is more favorable, the uterus was receptive ”, he believes he knows.
Until then "clumsy" and a little lazy on the matter, the vitality shown this Saturday by Yuan Zi, coupled with the activism of his companion, could also weigh in the balance.
Huan Huan and Yuan Zi in their "night lodge".
Beauval ZooParc
To know, you have to be patient.
Of course, the first hormonal signs will be given in two weeks.
But if the fertilization works, it will put itself "in pause mode, several weeks, even months", explains the veterinarian, the time for the mother to make fat reserves.
If all goes well, gestation will then resume for a birth about fifty days later.
One or more likely two white and black heads could then enlarge the clan - which, by the way, is not very keen on family life!
“But if fertilization fails,” he continues, “the female can behave like a pseudo-gestation: everything looks like pregnancy, but it's not.
The lady panda won't reveal her secrets right away.
