Edinburgh Zoo’s female giant panda Tian Tian lost her baby cub in the late stages of pregnancy, animal experts believe.
The zoo has announced that Tian Tian is no longer pregnant despite showing signs she was to mother a cub up to last week.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which runs the attraction, believes she was successfully inseminated in April but lost the foetus at late term.
Chief executive Chris West said: “We are all saddened by this turn of events after so many weeks of waiting.
“Such a loss has always been in our minds as a very real possibility, as it occurs in giant pandas as well as many other animals, including humans.
“Our dedicated team of keepers, veterinary staff and many others worked tirelessly to ensure Tian Tian received the best care possible.”
Tian Tian (meaning Sweetie) had been keeping the zoo, and the public, guessing over her possible pregnancy since she was artificially inseminated on April 21.
In August experts noted signs that she had been successfully fertilised and it was hoped a panda cub would be born by September.
Last week they said Tian Tian had started to produce colostrum and preparations were being made for the much-anticipated arrival.
A more recent review of her behaviour and hormone levels have led experts to believe she lost the foetus. “Over the last few days she has returned to the normal eating and behavioural patterns of a non-pregnant panda,” said Mr West.
Tian Tian and male panda Yang Guang (Sunshine) arrived at Edinburgh Zoo from China in December 2011.
The animals’ enclosure will remain closed until the end of the week.
Mr West said: “The majority of research centres and zoos with giant pandas around the world have not successfully bred until the third or fourth year and what we have achieved, considering we have had giant pandas for less than two years, is immense.”
Edinburgh-based charity OneKind is opposed to breeding wild animals in captivity. Its chief executive John Brady said: “Edinburgh Zoo has gone through a rigorous and extensive process in a bid to bring a panda cub to Scotland and one needs to ask whether or not this was in the panda’s best interests.
“While we are extremely saddened by the possibility of a miscarriage and concerned for the wellbeing of the panda at this time, we need to think about the life a panda cub would have had at the zoo, unable to live as nature intended.”