A year after zookeepers in China discovered a panda faked her pregnancy for treats, another panda has been accused of doing the exact same thing.
Eleven-year-old panda Yuan Yuan surprised zookeepers in a Taipei Zoo by showing signs of pregnancy shortly after being artificially inseminated in early June. According to the CBC, the panda displayed a loss of appetite, thickness around the uterus and increased levels of progesterone, a hormone known to maintain pregnancy, China Daily reported.
But now zookeepers are now saying that Yuan Yuan isn't pregnant and that she might have been faking it for perks. According to Business Insider, once female pandas are believed to be pregnant, they are moved to special facilities for around the clock care. The bears are often lavished with more food and air conditioning during the gestational period, since panda breeding is such a difficult process.
Yuan Yuan is already a mother to two-year-old cub Yuan Zai, so she might actually remember all the perks she got last time.
So is faking a pregnancy the new trend in the panda world? Expert Wu Kongju explained to CNN last year that it's not a new phenomenon, saying "clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life."