Is Ocean Park’s female giant panda Ying Ying pregnant? Birthday absence fuels hopes in Hong Kong

Ocean Park’s female panda Ying Ying was missing from her mate’s birthday party photo on Monday, sparking suspicions that she might again be pregnant, a year after her miscarriage left Hong Kong animal lovers devastated.

The Sichuan-born, ten-year-old giant panda has been mating since April with Le Le, and is showing signs of pregnancy. But the park’s officials said it was too early to confirm.

“Ying Ying likes to sleep more at the moment and is showing hormonal changes,” said the park’s spokeswoman Una Lau, “but the vet says we cannot tell for sure if it is a pseudopregnancy until two weeks before the due date.”

Bamboo-munching Ying Ying and her mate Le Le have long been looked to to produce the first giant panda born in Hong Kong.