Scientists at a zoo in France have been encouraged by the performance of a pair of giant pandas placed together in the hope of mating.
Female pandas are only fertile 24 to 48 hours per year and usually give birth every two years in the wild. However, in captivity the small window of opportunity makes it harder to achieve successful procreation.
Often this is due to male pandas appearing to lose interest or lacking the practice.
However, Huan Huan, a female panda on loan from China at the Beauval Zoo in France, and Yuan Zi, appeared "cooperative and active" in the mating process, according to zoo officials.
READ MORE:
Anxiety surge over life after lockdown
Seville's oranges are key to green future
PODCAST: Are we alone in the universe?
Female panda Huan Huan and male panda Yuan Zi. /AFP
But to aid the process, veterinarians from Germany, who specialize in the reproduction of exotic animals, carried out artificial insemination to increase the chances of pregnancy.
Rodolphe Delord, director of Beauval Zoo, told AFP: "The birth of a panda at Beauval Zoo is an exceptional event and it is also an event for the conservation of species, for the conservation of biodiversity.
"The panda is an extremely endangered species; there are only 1,800 of them left in the wild, even if things are getting better – 10 years ago there were only 1,200 to 1,300 left."
While any panda pregnancy should be detected within two weeks, the animals often experience "pseudo-pregnancies" that fail to produce an embryo.