Giant Panda Fakes Pregnancy To Get Better Accommodation

Enjoying a fishy birthday cake! Picture: CEN

This is Yuan Yuan the giant panda, and she faked her pregnancy in a cheeky bid to secure better living conditions in the summer.

The mischievous bear lives in captivity at Taipei Zoo, Taiwan, and was believed to have fallen pregnant after breeders artificially inseminated her earlier this year.

Picture: CEN

And while the 11-year-old fur ball showed signs of pregnancy including the thickening of her uterus, experts were flown to the zoo to undertake an ultrasound scan – which ultimately revealed that she wasn’t carrying an infant after all.

But it wasn’t before she had already been moved to a single air-conditioned room, and was pampered with around the clock care.

Picture: CEN

Now, a Zoo spokesman has told local media that it is believed Yuan Yuan faked the pregnancy after realising that she received greater care when she gave birth to baby Yuan Zai in July 2013.

Picture: CEN

Yuan Yuan arrived at Taipei Zoo in 2008, after she was given to Taiwan as a gift by the Chinese government.