BERLIN (dpa) – She’s lovable, but a trifle coy is Jan Jan, the popular female Panda in the Berlin Zoo. For years now zoo officials have been hoping she might, with a little assistance from Bau Bau, her somewhat grumpy male Panda companion, finally become pregnant.
But alas such hopes haven’t materialised, due to Bau Bau’s total “disinterest” in the mating game, it’s rumoured.
The male Panda is much older than Jan Jan, having been presented as a gift to Berlin by the Chinese government back in 1980 following a visit to Beijing by then-West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
There were attempts made at mating Bau Bau with another panda in earlier years. But the project ended tragically when the female died unexpectedly from pneumonia.
In more recent years, Berlin zoo experts have devoted a considerable amount of time to Jan Jan and Bau Bau.
In Jan Jan’s case, Mother Nature has been actively helped along – thanks to modern artificial insemination procedures. But without any success.
Now, with time running out, a final attempt at ensuring Jan Jan does become pregnant is in process. But the undertaking isn’t without its complications, due to anaesthetics necessary in the insemination process.
In 1997, five months after first being artificially inseminated with sperm from Bau Bau, and given special hormone treatment, Jan Jan suffered a still birth.
The story of Jan Jan has been a somewhat sorrowful saga. Her arrival in Berlin from Peking in 1995, was only made possible after a five-year loan arrangement was agreed with Chinese officials.
That arrangement expired in April. Chinese officials made clear that Jan Jan could remain in Berlin, but decreed Berlin must pay 280,000 marks (131,000 dollars) for every extra year she stayed.
Berlin’s new governing mayor Klaus Wowereit feels the fee is exhorbitant. The city has responded by offering 40,000 marks.
Baby Pandas are rarely born in captivity, but this hasn’t prevented zoo officials from doing everything possible in its efforts to help Jan Jan produce an off-spring.
In recent months there has been a glimmer of hope with regard to a Panda pregnancy, with Jan Jan showing signs of being very fertile – something notably absent in previous years.
Dr. Peter Hahn, from the Berlin zoo, says optimistically: “The signs have never been more favourable. During this phase, Jan Jan was drugged and inseminated with Bau Bau’s electronically activated sperm, he says.
With a degree of optimism currently prevailing in the pregnancy campaign, a Chinese delegation is expected to arrive soon in Berlin to work out a new agreement for Jan Jan’s continued stay.
Berlin officials says that the chances for a successful new agreement with China regarding Jan Jan will increase if she does become pregnant and the embryo develops healthily.
