聰明的熊貓 爲吹空調假裝懷孕

The birth of tiny panda cubs - seen live on television for the first time - was expected to captivate viewers in China.

在電視上首次直播小熊貓幼崽的出生過程，肯定會吸引中國的很多觀衆。

But fans of the endangered animals will be disappointed, because there will be no pitter patter of tiny paws any time soon.

但是熊貓迷們可能要失望了，因爲最近可能不會有熊貓小幼崽出生了。

Experts say that the 'pregnant' panda who was to be the star of the show is not expecting after all, and may have been faking a pregnancy to cash in on cushy living quarters and extra treats at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre in China.

中國成都大熊貓繁育研究基地的專家稱，本來會成爲這次電視直播明星的“懷孕的”大熊貓事實上並沒有懷孕，它可能是爲了住得更舒適、得到跟多的優待而出現了“假孕”現象。

Giant panda, Ai Hin, showed signs of being pregnant last month, according to reports by state news agency Xinhua.

據新華社報道，上個月大熊貓愛浜出現懷孕的跡象。

But experts at the centre in the south western province of Sichuan, think she experienced a phantom pregnancy.

但是之後大熊貓基地的專家認爲愛浜這種情況屬於“假妊娠”。

Ai Hin’s ‘behaviours and physiological indexes returned to normal’ ahead of her TV debut, they said.

他們說，愛浜在其直播首秀之前被發現“行爲和生理指標恢復了正常”。

It is standard practice at the breeding centre to take extra care of expectant giant pandas, as every cub is so important to preserving the highly threatened species.

在大熊貓繁育基地，給大熊貓“準媽媽”們特殊的照顧是很正常的，因爲對於保護這種高瀕危物種來說每一隻幼崽都是十分重要的。

Mothers-to-be are housed in air-conditioned single rooms and receive 24-hour care.

“準媽媽”們都會住進單獨的“空調房”裏，並且安排專人24小時看護。

It is thought that the intelligent animals know their care improves when they are expecting.

有人認爲，這種聰明的動物可能知道了自己在懷孕時會受到優待。

Wu Kongju, an expert at the centre told Xinhua: ‘They also receive more buns, fruits and bamboo, so some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life.’

大熊貓基地的專家吳孔菊告訴新華社記者：“懷孕的大熊貓還能得到更多的窩窩頭、水果和竹子等食物，所以聰明的它們爲了提高自己的生活品質可能會使些‘小手段’。”

Some of the bears continue to display pregnant behaviour after noticing their change of treatment and experts say that it is common for endangered animals to have phantom pregnancies.

有些大熊貓在待遇變化之後仍會表現出懷孕的症狀，專家稱大熊貓的“假孕”現象是比較普遍的。

Experts were led to believe that Ai Hin was pregnant as she became less mobile and had less of an appetite. They also noticed a surge in hormones at first – before realising the pregnancy wasn’t real, Gulf News reported.

愛浜當時是因爲出現運動量減少、食慾降低等情況讓專家們誤以爲她懷孕了。據《海灣新聞》報道，專家們在意識到愛浜是“假孕”之前，還在其體內發現了孕激素值上升。

Breeding centres such as Chengdu are needed to stop giant pandas teetering on the edge of extinction.

成都大熊貓基地的任務就是爲了挽救這種瀕臨滅絕邊緣的動物。

The animals’ natural habitat in the mountains has become more built-up and the bears have a low reproductive rate, making their survival perilous.

由於大熊貓的自然棲息地越來越少，再加上其繁殖率越來越低，它們的生存面臨着危險。

Female giant pandas reach maturity at between four and eight years old and only ovulate once a year in the spring.

雌性大熊貓的成熟期爲4-8歲，但只在每年春天排卵一次。

A short period of two to three days is the only time they can conceive and while a panda often gives birth to twins, only one usually survives.

它們能懷孕的時間只有短短的兩三天，而當一隻大熊貓產下雙胞胎時往往只有一隻能夠存活。

Over a lifetime of around 35 years, female pandas typically only successfully raise five to eight cubs, so their slow breeding rate prevents the population from recovering quickly.

一隻大熊貓一般能活35年左右，但雌性大熊貓一生中只能成功養育5-8個幼崽。低繁殖率使大熊貓無法快速恢復原有數量。

There are just 1,600 pandas living in the wild in China, as well as some 300 kept in captivity.

目前在中國，野生大熊貓僅有1600只，而圈養大熊貓僅有300多隻。