Passionate pandas get down to bear necessities in rare captivity event
GIANT pandas Yang Yang and Long Hui had zoo staff wild with excitement yesterday as they mated several times - a rare event in captivity.
The pandas mated several times which is rare in captivity
The mating season comes just once every 12 months, so the love-in at Vienna's Schonbrunn Zoo - where three cubs have been born since 2007 - left keepers hoping this year's breeding session will be a success.
If it is, a cub could arrive at the end of August.
Pandas are usually loners and staff at the Austrian zoo were alerted when Yang Yang and Long Hui showed interest in each other last week.
Other zoos and especially breeding stations rely solely on artificial insemination
The zoo said in a statement: "This is a sensation for giant pandas.
"Other zoos and especially breeding stations rely solely on artificial insemination."
Pandas caught mating on camera
If the mating was successful a cub could arrive by the end of August
The pandas are called Long Hui and Yang Yang
With gestation taking up to 163 days, they will now be waiting to see if the mating was successful.
Three panda cubs have been born at Schoenbrunn zoo since 2007 and, at the age of two, were taken to China, where most of the species lives in mountain ranges.
There are fewer than 2,000 pandas left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which has the bear as its logo.
Three cubs have been born in Schoebrun since 2007