Visitors to Taipei Zoo during the Lunar New Year holidays may not be able to see pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, as the duo could be secluded for mating, the zoo said yesterday.
Yuan Yuan entered her estrus cycle on Feb. 14 last year and previous records showed that she ovulated between February and March. The zoo will separate the pair from visitors as soon as Yuan Yuan is ready for mating, Taipei Zoo spokesman Jason Chin (金仕謙) said.
Chin said the zoo had set up a space in the panda’s outdoor area for mating. The zoo will announce the news the day before if it close the panda exhibition hall to the public, he said.
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan will have to wait until next year if they miss the mating season this time, Chin said. The zoo separated the two pandas in November in preparation for their first breeding season, and has been in close contact with China’s Wolong Nature Reserve Administration.
“Although visitors may not be able to see Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan during the Lunar New Year, we hope they will join us in wishing them success in producing offspring,” a zoo statement said.
The pandas were born in 2004 and were selected as gifts from China in 2006. They have become one of the main attractions at the zoo since their arrival in December 2008. The zoo says that captive pandas usually reach sexual maturity at the age of five-and-a-half years old, and can mate until they are 19 years old.
The zoo will be closed today and will open tomorrow and throughout the holidays. Visitors who want to see the pandas should check the zoo’s Web site for updates on the panda hall.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
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