【聯合晚報╱美聯社】
愛丁堡大貓熊生產不順
Edinburgh zoo: 'Bad news' for pregnant giant panda
Edinburgh Zoo warned Monday that its female giant panda,Tian Tian, may have lost her cub.
愛丁堡動物園1日警告，園裡的雌貓熊「甜甜」可能保不住幼熊。
Hopes were high that Tian Tian, or Sweetie, would give birth at the end of August following artificial insemination in April.
各界原本高度期望在4月的人工授精後，「甜甜」可能在8月底產下小貓熊。
But the zoo's panda expert said Tian Tian is ``now past her due date,'' and hormone tests showed that ``something may be amiss.''
但動物園的貓熊專家說，甜甜「已經過了預產期」，荷爾蒙檢驗顯示「情況不對勁」。
"The evidence suggests that this may be bad news," said Iain Valentine at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.He added, however, that there is still a chance the panda will give birth.
蘇格蘭皇家動物學會的華倫汀說：「證據顯示情勢不妙。」不過他說，甜甜還是有生產的機會。
Many thought it could be third time lucky for the panda,which failed to mate with male companion Yang Guang, despite encouragement from zoo keepers. She became pregnant last year, also after artificial insemination, but appeared to have suffered a miscarriage late term.
很多人原本寄望第三次的嘗試會帶來好運。動物園管理員早先曾撮合甜甜與雄性伴侶「陽光」交配，但沒有成功。去年經過人工授精，甜甜一度懷孕，後來仍然流產。
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