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Everything About S’pore First Panda Cub That’s Born to Kai Kai & Jia Jia at River Safari

2021-08-15 , 12:16 pm

Everything About S’pore First Panda Cub That’s Born to Kai Kai & Jia Jia at River Safari

Today, Wildlife Reserves Singapore announces that it’s official (oh yes, to add on, they also said they had it in “black and white”; pretty sure it’s not a pun): Singapore’s first panda cub was born this morning at 7:40am.

WRS calls it a joyful boost to the ongoing National Day celebrations this year. The cub’s gender is yet to be determined and will be announced later.

Since the arrival of the two pandas in Singapore in 2012, the pair have been a highlight in River Safari. They had arrived from China Wildlife Conservation Association for a ten-year loan, which mean they might be going back to China next year.

The couple has embarked on a mission to reproduce since 2015, and whenever their mating season started on April, it’ll become headline news, but alas; for the last few years, they hadn’t been successful.

But this year, it’s different.

In April 2021, 13-year-old Kai Kai and 12-year-old Jia Jia displayed signs of being in heat, officially entering their seventh breeding season. Working closely with the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Panda (CCRCGP), WRS’ animal care team initiated the breeding plan for 2021, emphasising natural mating with assisted reproductive technology as back up if required. There was optimism that the pandas would naturally breed this year, after the pair had shown improvements in their mating techniques the year before.

As the courtship between Kai Kai and Jia Jia unfolded, under close observation by the Singapore panda care team with real time updates to CCRCGP experts, the window of opportunity for a successful mating was fast dwindling

To make the most of the once-a-year breeding season, CCRCGP experts advised WRS’ vets to perform artificial insemination before the end of the receptive period. The procedure was carried out by the in-house veterinary team at WRS’ Wildlife Healthcare and Research Centre, using frozen semen collected from Kai Kai before the mating season.

So yes, with a little help from technology, we now have a Singapore panda.

Why Weren’t We Aware of This?

If your girlfriend is pregnant, you won’t even need to ask her if she’s pregnant: you can tell from her belly and her response to your question.

However, it’s a tad different for pandas: for a start, they won’t need to be pregnant for nine months; their pregnancy can be as short as three months.

In addition, according to Dr Cheng Wen-Haur, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS)’s Deputy CEO and Chief Life Sciences Officer, it’s not easy to spot the signs of a panda’s pregnancy. She said, “In July, ultrasound scans showed a thickening of Jia Jia’s cervix and some fluid in the uterine horns. We stayed hopeful for Jia Jia, while maintaining her ultrasound checks to monitor developments.

“Female giant pandas display pseudopregnancy, exhibiting all the hormonal and behavioural signs of pregnancy even when they are not expecting. The only sure way of confirming a pregnancy is visualisation of a foetus near to term. This happened for us (on 10 August) when our vet picked up, on ultrasound, not only a clear outline of a foetus but one with a strong heartbeat!”

In other words, WRS confirms the pregnancy merely five days ago.

Giant Pandas No Longer Endangered

Back in 2012, when the pair came to Singapore, they were endangered animals so no one would bat an eye even if Singapore engaged Gurkha officers to guard them.

In 2016, they were taken off the endangered species list and are now considered “vulnerable” instead due to long-term conservation efforts, including the expansion of habitats.

As of now, there are 1,800 pandas in the wild.

Everything About S’pore First Panda Cub That’s Born to Kai Kai & Jia Jia at River Safari