Pandas pretend to be pregnant for better care

The big panda Ai Hin is believed to be pregnant to receive additional food and better care.

>>> Rare and precious panda giving birth in a zoo in Taiwan

Ai Hin, 6-year-old panda, was raised at the Chengdu Research Center, southwestern China. It shows signs of pregnancy from the previous month, with manifestations such as slower movement and appetite.

Ai Hin pandas at Chengdu Research Center.(Photo: AFP)

However, after being brought into a private room with more air conditioning and care, Ai Hin's physiological behavior and ocean began to return to normal. The plan to prepare for Ai Hin's birth was canceled when the research team thought it was fake.

"During pregnancy, pandas will eat more, so some smart pandas will take advantage of this to improve their daily lives," Telegraph quoted Wu Kongju as saying. The research team believed that Ai Hin had a sense of attention and attentive care, before the center staff realized it was not really pregnant.

According to Xinhua, many other pandas also show signs of becoming pregnant after noticing the difference in their treatment and care.

The natural habitat of pandas is in the mountain ranges in southwest China. The number of species and their reproductive rate are decreasing gradually due to many different factors, including the narrowing of the living environment. China currently has about 1,600 live wild pandas and 300 individuals in captivity.