Download the all-new Republic app:

Published 16:22 IST, April 16th 2020

Panda mating in closed Vienna zoo unsuccessful

Love simply was not struck between the two pandas in the Vienna zoo during their short mating season.

Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
null | Image: self
Advertisement

Love simply was not struck between the two pandas in the Vienna zoo during their short mating season.

The Vienna Zoo is the only zoo in Europe in which pandas have produced offspring without artificial insemination in the past.

Advertisement

But Pandas are loners who are only ready to mate for two days each year.

"In the beginning, there was a little bit of a scuffle between Yang Yang and Yuan Yuan," zookeeper Eveline Dungl said on Thursday.

Advertisement

It is important that the animals get to know each other before the start of the mating season. But despite seeing each other, the two didn't grow closer.

Dungl calls it a "first encounter" and hopes that next year will bring a change in the behaviour of the pandas.

Advertisement

Dungl also said with the pair being 20 and 21 years old, they aren't teenagers anymore, not even in panda years.

"They also have different levels of experience", Dungl added.

Advertisement

Yang Yang last gave birth in 2016 to twins Fu Feng and Fu Ban.

(Representative Image)

16:22 IST, April 16th 2020