Edinburgh Zoo has issued video footage of Scotland’s only female giant panda, Tian Tian playing with the food given to her. The food is what the zoo call ‘enrichment’ which is a kind of treat for her on top of all the bamboo she already eats.
The video shows Tian Tian playing with the enrichment in the shape of a log. The zoo keepers discovered the log in her outdoor enclosure, so they hid it under a huge pile of bamboo for her to find.
As soon as she clambered onto her swing she sniffed out her surprise under all the bamboo. She left her dinner in favour of playtime. She quickly dug out the enrichment item, which she then pushed off her hammock, before performing a “ninja roll” after it. She then proceeds to pick up the log to play with it, before rubbing its scent into her fur.
Enrichment plays an important role in the lives of the animals at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo, providing extra stimulation that helps them to demonstrate natural, species-typical behaviour and to enhance their physical and physiological well-being. The keepers and enrichment team create the enrichment programmes with each individual species’ natural behaviours in mind.
Earlier this year the zoo carried out artificial insemination on the female panda, and issued this statement: “Artificial insemination took place on Tian Tian the female giant panda in the early hours of Thursday 26 March 2015. The procedure was carried out by the expert team of three veterinarians at RZSS, alongside Chinese colleague Doctor Wang Chengdong from the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Pandas (CCRCGP). Only semen from male panda Yang Guang was used during the procedure.”
There has been no update from the zoo on any possible pregnancy since March.
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