In The Mood For Love: Park Pandas Mate At Last

There was joy at Hong Kong's shuttered Ocean Park attraction on Monday as the SAR's two resident giant pandas finally mated naturally, after a decade of encouragement and attempts at artificial insemination.

The news raised the highest hopes yet that Ying Ying and Le Le, who are both 14, will produce offspring for the first time after years of disappointment. They arrived in the SAR in 2007 and first began attempts at natural mating in 2010.

"The successful natural mating process today is extremely exciting for all of us, as the chance of pregnancy via natural mating is higher than by artificial insemination,” said Michael Boos, executive director in zoological operations and conservation at Ocean Park.

However panda pregnancy is notoriously unpredictable, and pregnancy can't be confirmed until ultrasound scans 14 to 17 days before birth. The gestation period can last anything between 72 and 325 days.

“If successful, signs of pregnancy, including hormonal level fluctuations and behavioural changes may be observed as early as late June, though there is always a chance that Ying Ying could experience a pseudo-pregnancy," Boos said. Ying Ying has had pseudo-pregnancies for the past two years.

"We hope to bear wonderful pregnancy news to Hongkongers this year and make further contributions to the conservation of this vulnerable species.”

He promised to continue updating Hongkongers on Ying Ying's progress.

Ocean Park has been working with the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province since the arrival of the two pandas in 2007.

The park has been closed to the public since late January due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.