Two giant pandas have successfully mated at a Hong Kong theme park for the first time in more than a decade after it was closed to the public due to coronavirus lockdown there.
The 14-year-old Ying Ying and Le Le have been at Ocean Park since 2007, but with hordes of visitors staring at them throughout the day, they have shown little interest in mating.
Since 2010, zookeepers tried various methods to encourage the naturally low libido animals but nothing worked until Monday 6 April.
Much to the delight of their keepers and after two months of isolation, they made the most of their privacy.
According to Ocean Park, since late March, Ying Ying began spending more time playing in the water, while Le Le has been leaving scent-markings around his habitat and searching the area for Ying Ying’s scent.
Zookeepers believe such behaviours are common during breeding season, which occurs once every year between March to May.
"Male and female giant pandas are sexually mature starting at ages of seven and five respectively. Since Ying Ying and Le Le’s arrival in Hong Kong in 2007 and attempts at natural mating since 2010, they, unfortunately, have yet to succeed until this year upon years of trial and learning," said Michael Boos, Executive Director in Zoological Operations and Conservation at Ocean Park.
"The successful natural mating process today is extremely exciting for all of us…We hope to bear wonderful pregnancy news to Hong Kongers this year," Mr Boos added.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature there are currently 1,864 giant pandas left in the wild with the population increasing by 17% in the last ten years.
