Yesterday, the director of the Chiang Mai Zoo, Nipon Vichairat, made the exciting announcement that heavily pregnant panda Lin Hui is showing all the telltale signs of preparing for birth.
The zoo’s vets expect the happy event to begin over the next few days after examining her body and behavior.
She is sleeping more and for longer, eating more. Her progesterone level has dropped. She has started to lactate, and she has been preparing a nest area for the baby.
Zoo officials have prepped a panda incubator, scale, and bottle sterilizer, and a team of specialized caregivers is standing by and waiting for the momentous occasion.
Panda’s have relatively short pregnancies, Lin Hui has been pregnant for just four months and was artificially inseminated with the sperm of her mate, Xuang Xuang. The pair have been on loan for 14 years from China, reported Bangkok Post.
The cub will be their second after Lin Ping, born in May of 2009.
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