It’s no doubt that the global coronavirus pandemic has had positive knock-on effects for our planet. With everyone indoors, the planet is vibrating less, the ozone layer is healing and even dolphins are returning to the canals of Venice. It really is an ecological miracle – and the latest panda-related news is no exception.
It would appear that dolphins aren’t the only animals who are living their best lives, as the latest surprising and somewhat PG news story, reveals that giant pandas in a Hong Kong zoo are having sex once more following a ten-year dry spell.
Humanity’s isolation has had positive knock-on effects for the environment – now pandas are given the privacy they need to mate.
Ying Ying and Le Le, two giant pandas at the Ocean Park Zoo in Hong Kong, successfully mated for the first time in ten-years despite their previous failed attempts, showing all they needed was a little bit of privacy.
Now, before you get too excited, there’s no guarantee a baby panda is on the way. In fact, we won’t know more for a while as pregnancy in pandas can only be detected around two weeks before birth.
The executive director at the Zoo stated that: “The chance of pregnancy via natural mating is higher than by artificial insemination,” – so we’ve got our fingers crossed for them!
In 2017 WWF upgraded the cuddly-creatures risk-level from “endangered” to “vulnerable”, making the thought of a naturally conceived baby panda all the more exciting.
This really is the good news story all animal-lovers and conservationists need, especially as this comes just days after the first animal was diagnosed with coronavirus, a tiger in the Bronx zoo.
Well whilst we’re all locked indoors, social distancing and certainly not getting any… at least the pandas are.
