Copenhagen Zoo’s seventh panda breeding attempt fails

Mao Sun, the female panda at Copenhagen Zoo, is not pregnant this year either, DR reports. The zoo said it will evaluate the process.

This year, the zoo tried artificial insemination for the first time. The timing and procedure appeared promising, but reproduction among pandas is complex, said zoo director Mads Frost Bertelsen in a press release.

Mao Sun and the male panda Xing Er arrived in Copenhagen from China in 2019. Until this year, the zoo had tried to breed the pair naturally, without producing any cubs.

The zoo said artificial insemination is a well-established method but does not guarantee success. Experience from Chinese breeding centres indicates that the chance of pregnancy through insemination is about 40 per cent.

Female pandas are in heat only once a year, often for less than 72 hours, which makes breeding difficult. The zoo said Mao Sun is doing well.