Wednesday, September 6
Our wait is over!
Lun Lun gave birth at September 6 at 4:51 P.M. Both the cub and mother seem to be doing fine. We have very little to share at this moment, but will keep posting updates daily about Lun Lun's and the cub's progress.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Tuesday, September 5
Lun Lun spent almost the entire day resting in her nest box. She ate a few biscuits last night. She has not eaten anything so far today. New hormone results should be available tomorrow.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Monday, September 4
Early this morning Lun Lun ate a few biscuits and slices of fruit. Then she went back to sleep. She was restless for a few hours yesterday evening. Restlessness sometimes precedes labor. So, we were hopeful, but she slept through the night. The waiting continues.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Sunday, September 3
Lun Lun ate a few small pieces of fruit and sugarcane as well as some bamboo today. She has again spent almost the entire day sleeping in her nest box. Her mammary glands appear to be more swollen than they were in previous years. We continue to watch and wait.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Saturday, September 2
Lun Lun’s progestins are finally decreasing! If she is pregnant, we expect her to give birth when progestins approach baseline. That should happen in the next couple of days. Lun Lun ate some biscuits and bamboo overnight. She also broke up pieces of bamboo and spent several minutes chewing on her nest box. This might be nesting behavior. So far today, she has only eaten a small amount of sugarcane. She is spending most of her time resting in her nest box. The keepers continue to keep a close eye on her. We are all hoping for the best.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Friday, September 1
Lun Lun ate two biscuits and a few small pieces of sugarcane this morning. She has been sleeping in her nest box since then. In the last few days, she has occasionally spent a few minutes biting the sides of her nest box or her automatic drinker. The keeper who is here from the Chengdu Research Base, Xie Yi, said that some females in Chengdu also show this behavior a few days before giving birth. We think it might be related to nest building. Wild female giant pandas sometimes bite off pieces of wood and bamboo, which they position outside their den openings.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Thursday, August 31
This morning Lun Lun ate a few biscuits and pieces of fruit. Then she slept for the rest of the day in her den. A giant panda keeper from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding arrived in Atlanta this week. Her name is Xie Yi. She has several years of experience taking care of newborn giant panda cubs and their mothers. She is here to help us if Lun Lun gives birth. New hormone results should be available tomorrow.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Wednesday, August 30
Lun Lun ate some bamboo leaves today and a small piece of sugarcane. She has not eaten any biscuits or fruit today. She and Yang Yang have been eating mostly the culm or stalk of the bamboo since spring. Today, both of them ate leaves. That means they might be switching their preference to leaves. Giant pandas in the wild and captivity eat different parts of bamboo plants at different times of year.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Tuesday, August 29
Lun Lun ate a few leafeater biscuits and a small amount of fruit this morning. Then she slept in her den for the rest of the day. Hormone results through Aug. 27 show that her progestins are still elevated. The most recent values are slightly lower, which may mean that progestins have started to decrease, but we will need data from more days this week to confirm that. Lun Lun is now usually urinating less than once a day, and so we are not able to measure progestins every day. The next hormone results will be available on
Friday.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Monday, August 28
Lun Lun spent almost the entire day sleeping in her den. She ate a small piece of sugarcane, but has not eaten any biscuits, fruit, or bamboo today. She made chomping sounds a few times today. This sound is made by opening and closing the mouth rapidly. It is characterized as being a defensive threat. It’s normal for pregnant and pseudopregnant females to become defensive. However, Lun Lun has seemed more defensive and wary this year, and so the animal care staff are leaving her alone as much as possible.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Sunday, August 27
Today, Lun Lun spent more time sleeping in the nest box filled with bedding in her den. We hope she likes this area and will choose to give birth there if she is pregnant. She did not eat any biscuits or fruit, but did eat a small amount of bamboo.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Saturday, August 26
Lun Lun continues to spend almost all of her time sleeping in her den. She eats a very small amount of bamboo each day, but she has not eaten any leafeater biscuits or fruit since Monday. She will not participate in ultrasound sessions, because she is reluctant to move from her den and not interested in biscuits and fruit. These are usually her favorite foods, and thus used as reinforcement during ultrasound sessions. Yesterday was her birthday. She is nine years old.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Friday, August 25
Lun Lun’s progestins are still elevated and have not yet started to decrease. It usually takes at least 7 days for progestins to decline to baseline levels which is when we would expect a birth if Lun Lun is pregnant. However, progestins are being measured from Lun Lun’s urine and, as is normal for a pregnant or pseudopregnant panda, she has been urinating only once a day or once every other day. This means progestins may be highly concentrated in her bladder, and so the results from her urine may not accurately reflect the true progestins concentration in her body. Therefore, it’s possible that she could give birth when the progestins concentration in her urine is well above baseline. Thus, we are prepared for a birth to happen at anytime and continue to monitor her 24 hours per day.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Thursday, August 24
Today Lun Lun again spent most of the day sleeping in her den. She ate a small amount of bamboo, but no leaf eater biscuits or fruit. We continue to monitor her 24-hours a day. New hormone results should be available tomorrow.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Wednesday, August 23
Lun Lun spent almost the entire day sleeping in her den. She ate a small amount of bamboo last night, but did not eat any leafeater biscuits or fruit, which are some of her favorite foods. Lack of activity and appetite are common behavioral changes in both pregnant and pseudopregnant giant pandas. However, this year Lun Lun’s appetite is lower than it was in previous years when she had pseudopregnancies. We hope that is a good sign.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Tuesday, August 22
Hormone results through yesterday indicate that Lun Lun’s progestins are still elevated and have not yet started to decrease. Thus, we expect that if she is pregnant, a birth would still be at least a week away. We are continuing to monitor her 24 hours per day.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Monday, August 21
Lun Lun continues to spend almost all of her time sleeping in her den. She ate a small amount of leafeater biscuits and some bamboo yesterday. So far today, she has not eaten anything.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Friday, August 18
Lun Lun again spent almost the entire day sleeping in her den and has eaten very little. Her progestins are still elevated. If she is pregnant, a birth is expected when progestins approach baseline levels. It usually takes several days for progestins to decrease, which means we are probably at least a few days away from a possible birth. Because Lun Lun is not interested in eating even her favorite foods and is very reluctant to leave her den, she is not cooperating with ultrasound procedures.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Thursday, August 17
Lun Lun continues to spend almost all of her time sleeping in her den. She ate very little last night and has not eaten anything so far today. Fasting is normal during pseudopregnancy and pregnancy in giant pandas. Lun Lun’s appetite has decreased in previous years when she had pseudopregnancies, but this year her appetite is extremely low. We hope that is a good sign!
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Wednesday, August 16
Lun Lun spent almost the whole day sleeping in her den. She has eaten very little today and refused to participate in an ultrasound procedure. Her progestins are still elevated, which means she is most likely at least a week away from giving birth if she is pregnant.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Tuesday, August 15
Lun Lun spent most of today sleeping in her den. She refused to get up for an ultrasound procedure until late this afternoon. No evidence of a fetus was found during the procedure.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
Monday, August 14
Lun Lun’s behavior changed over the weekend. She spent a lot more time sleeping and has not wanted to leave her den to go onto exhibit. This is common in both pseudopregnant and pregnant females.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management
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