Tian Tian (female giant panda)
{{Short description|Female giant panda (born 2003)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
File:Tián Tián (甜甜) sitting on branches.jpg
Tian Tian ({{zh|c=甜甜|p=Tián Tián}}, meaning "Sweetie") is a female panda born on 24 August 2003 at the Beijing Zoo from mother Niu Niu and father Ying Ying, and a former resident at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland.{{Cite web |url=http://www.rzss.org.uk/media/4362/PandaFactsheet_April14.doc |title=Archived copy |access-date=12 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629003131/http://www.rzss.org.uk/media/4362/PandaFactsheet_April14.doc |archive-date=29 June 2014 |url-status=dead}}
She arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/04/giant-pandas-edinburgh-zoo-china|title=Giant pandas touch down in Edinburgh|first=Severin|last=Carrell|date=4 December 2011|website=The Guardian}} together with a male panda named Yáng Guāng ({{zh|c=陽光}}, meaning "sunshine"). They were the only two pandas in the United Kingdom.{{cite web|url=http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals-attractions/animals/giant-panda/|title=Page not found - Edinburgh Zoo|website=www.edinburghzoo.org.uk|access-date=12 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813040421/http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/animals-attractions/animals/giant-panda/|archive-date=13 August 2014|url-status=dead}} They are on loan from the Bifengxia Breeding Centre in China at a cost of £640,000 per year.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/dec/02/pandas-edinburgh-zoo|title=What price captive pandas?|first=Henry|last=Nicholls|date=2 December 2011|website=The Guardian}}
The initial ten-year loan was extended by two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic; in September 2023 it was announced that the pair would return to China in December of that year.{{cite web |title=Edinburgh Zoo's giant pandas to return to China in December |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-66706653 |website=BBC News |access-date=11 September 2023 |date=4 September 2023}}
The pandas arrived in China on December 4, 2023.
Pregnancies
When in China Tian Tian, successfully gave birth to twins on 7 August 2009. The male cub was named Shen Wei and the female Bo Si.{{Cite web |url=http://www.giantpandazoo.com/panda/panda-zoos/edinburgh-zoo |title=Edinburgh Zoo | www.GiantPandaZoo.com |access-date=12 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140731102718/http://www.giantpandazoo.com/panda/panda-zoos/edinburgh-zoo |archive-date=31 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}
After her arrival at Edinburgh Zoo she had an unsuccessful mating season in 2012.{{cite news|title = Giant pandas fail to mate|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/apr/04/giant-pandas-fail-to-mate|work=The Guardian}}
In April 2013 Royal Zoological Society of Scotland performed on her the first artificial insemination procedure on a giant panda in the UK. They later confirm that Tian Tian had become pregnant, but most likely reabsorbed the foetus late term.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-24533158 | work=BBC News | title=Edinburgh Zoo panda Tian Tian 'no longer pregnant' | date=15 October 2013}}
On 12 August 2014 Iain Valentine, Director of Giant Pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, announced that a second implantation had taken place, she was pregnant and birth was expected around the end of August 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/news/2014/08/giant-panda-update/|title=Page not found - Edinburgh Zoo|website=www.edinburghzoo.org.uk}} On 22 September 2014 Edinburgh Zoo announced that she was no longer pregnant.{{cite web|title=News World news Animals Edinburgh zoo says giant panda Tian Tian is no longer pregnant|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/22/edinburgh-zoo-giant-panda-tian-tian-not-pregnant|work=The Guardian|date=22 September 2014}}
On 26 March 2015 it was announced that a third artificial insemination had taken place{{cite web|title=Giant Panda Breeding Season Update|url=http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/news/2015/03/giant-panda-breeding-season-update/|publisher=Edinburgh Zoo|date=26 March 2015|accessdate=8 April 2015}} but by August 2015 it was believed she had lost the cub.{{cite news|title=Edinburgh zoo panda no longer believed to be pregnant|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-34048872|accessdate=24 February 2015|publisher=BBC News, Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland|date=25 August 2015}}
In October 2015 scientists said they were exploring cloning the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo.{{cite news|title=Scottish scientists looking at ways to clone Edinburgh pandas|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13802694.Scottish_scientists_looking_at_ways_to_clone_Edinburgh_pandas/|accessdate=24 February 2016|work=The Guardian|date=4 October 2015}}
On 24 August 2017 it was revealed that Edinburgh Zoo had believed she was pregnant again after being artificially inseminated for the fifth time in 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/edinburgh-zoo-believes-giant-panda-tian-tian-is-pregnant-1-4541396|title=Edinburgh Zoo 'believes giant panda Tian Tian is pregnant'|date=24 August 2017 |publisher=}} The expected date for a birth was as early as 25 August 2017 although the Zoo said was hard to predict and the panda breeding season can last until late September.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-41039651|title=Edinburgh panda 'believed to be pregnant'|work=BBC News |date=24 August 2017|publisher=}} On 11 September 2017, the Zoo said that Tian Tian was not pregnant and her hormone levels had returned to normal.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/11/our-giant-panda-tian-tian-not-pregnant-says-edinburgh-zoo|title=Edinburgh zoo's giant panda fails to produce cub|first=Severin|last=Carrell|date=11 September 2017|website=The Guardian}}
In the media
The coverage of Tian Tian's pregnancies at Edinburgh Zoo became so widespread that BBC Radio 4 current affairs programme PM broadcast satirical daily "Possible Panda Pregnancy Update[s]".{{Cite web |url=http://www.bigpartnership.co.uk/blog/public-relations/359-pandering-to-the-media-what-we-can-learn-from-britain-s-panda-watch |title=Pandering to the media: What we can learn from Britain's panda watch |access-date=12 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021105520/http://www.bigpartnership.co.uk/blog/public-relations/359-pandering-to-the-media-what-we-can-learn-from-britain-s-panda-watch |archive-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=dead}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Famous giant pandas}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tian, Tian}}
Category:Individual giant pandas