We’ve all done some pretty crazy things for really good food. But Yuan Yuan, the panda, took hers to the extreme when she exhibited signs of pregnancy only to be outed as a lying panda fraud by an ultrasound. She was so
impressed by the treats she got the last time she was pregnant that it is thought she has been ‘acting’ pregnant.
Workers at Taipei Zoo in Taiwan were thrilled when she started to show signs she was expecting after being artificially inseminated. Because giant panda births are so rare she was immediately whisked away to top notch accommodation that included an air conditioned room, round the clock care and all the buns, bamboo and fruit she could eat.
Panda pregnancies are difficult to detect in the early stages. However after a month, zookeepers carried out more tests and discovered she was not with child. Researchers from China were flown in and suggested that Yuan Yuan might have faked the pregnancy to get a cooler room during the hot summer months.
It is not the first time a panda has been suspected of faking a pregnancy. In August of 2014, a 6-year-old giant panda named Ai Hin was accused of duping staff at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Center in China. One of Chengdu’s experts told CNN ‘some clever pandas’ notice the superior treatment expectant panda mothers receive and ‘have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life.’….. Yuan Yuan’s friends av been taunting and mocking her wt d phrase, “d struggle is real o.”……
