Explainer | After Hong Kong’s Ying Ying bears twins, a look at the ins and outs of giant panda breeding
- The Post recounts the long journey to parenthood of city’s famous cuddly couple and explains the delicate process of breeding pandas in captivity
Without a hint of being pregnant made to the public, Ying Ying delivered two cubs, a male and a female, on Thursday – a day shy of her 19th birthday – instantly becoming the oldest first-time giant panda mum in the world.
The Post looks at Ying Ying and her partner Le Le’s long journey to parenthood and delves into the delicate process of how pandas have babies.
1. How long did it take for them to become parents?
Female and male giant pandas become sexually mature at age five and seven years respectively.
The journey to parenthood for Ying Ying and Le Le took more than 10 years, with multiple phantom pregnancies and miscarriages.
Arriving in Hong Kong as a gift in 2007, the couple began mating naturally in 2010, with zoologists also attempting rounds of artificial insemination.
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Hong Kong’s Ying Ying gives birth to twins, becoming oldest first-time giant panda mum
But none of the attempts was successful, including one in 2015, when Ying Ying and Le Le were flown to Wolong in Sichuan as part of a national mating programme in which pandas are encouraged to breed naturally or are artificially inseminated.
