Come and get me! Male giant panda relaxes in the sun at Edinburgh zoo as he gets ready

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The male giant panda at Edinburgh zoo poses seductively today as he gets ready to mate.

Yang Guang reclines in the sunshine and gets ready to mate with his female partner Tian Tian.


She has only a 36-hour annual fertility window when she can mate.


She was also photographed today as she relaxed by her pool while anxious staff wait for her hormone levels to peak.

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Ready to mate: Yang Guang relaxes in the sun at Edinburgh Zoo as he prepares to mate with Tian Tian in the annual 36-hour window of opportunity





Come and get me! Yang Guang, here in his enclosure today, is kept apart from his female mate because of the risk they will attack each other until she is ready to mate

Experts believe she is now almost ready to accept the advances of the male because her grumpy behaviour and loss of appetite suggest she is in season.

When scientists believe the time is right, the pair will meet up to three times a day for 15 to 30-minute intervals.

The pair were introduced to each other during breeding season last year but they failed to mate.

Throughout the rest of the year the two giant pandas are kept apart because they are naturally territorial and could attack one another.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang are the first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years.




Tian Tian and Yang Guang relax by the water at Edinburgh Zoo




Laid back: The two pandas failed to mate when encouraged to do so by staff at the zoo a year ago





Get me! Tian Tian enjoys the pool in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo as she approaches her annual window of opportunity when her hormones are high




Edinburgh Zoo, where the pair have lived since their arrival from China in December 2011, has employed a number of measures to synchronise the breeding cycles of the pandas, including controlled lighting, urine testing for hormone levels and enclosure swapping.


If Tian Tian does fall pregnant, it will be July or the first half of August when Edinburgh Zoo experts will be able to confirm it by using ultrasound scans.


The majority of giant panda cubs are born at the very end of August or beginning of September. Although females may give birth to two young, usually only one survives.





Prepared: Male Yang Guang, pictured, will be put together three times a day for 15 - 30 minutes with his female mate when zoo staff try and get them to mate

The giant pandas’ naturally slow breeding rate prevents a population in the wild from recovering quickly from illegal hunting, habitat loss, and other human-related causes of mortality.


A spokeswoman for the zoo said: 'Things are looking very positive. Tian Tian's hormones are continuing to rise and we are waiting for her to hit her peak.

'Yang Guang is ready to go. He has been doing lots of scent-marking. It's just a question of waiting now.'



Exploring: Yang Guang has a look round his enclosure just hours before he is encouraged to mate





Mating season: Tian Tian can only mate successfully when her hormones are at their peak

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