Japanese giant salamanders live in cold, fast-flowing streams in Japan. Their numbers have been greatly reduced over the years because of agricultural development and habitat modification.

Photo left: Rick Quintero (left), the primary Japanese giant salamander keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, feeds the Zoo’s new juvenile salamanders for Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki (right). Fujisaki was at the Zoo on July 22 to help celebrate the arrival of the salamanders, a gift from the City of Hiroshima Asa Zoological Park. (Mehgan Murphy photo)

“In conserving salamanders, we conserve the ecosystems in which they live,” said Ed Bronikowski, senior curator at the Zoo. “People share those same ecosystems, so what is good for the salamanders is good for many species, including us. We hope our visitors will learn from this generous gift to embrace our own diverse native salamander populations and protect healthy ecosystems for all.”

The National Zoo has experience caring for Japanese giant salamanders since as early as 1940, but with this gift, the Zoo hopes to become the first in the United States to successfully breed this species, which has not been bred outside of Japan in at least 100 years.

During the donation ceremony on July 22, kids from Great Falls Elementary School in Great Falls, Virginia were present to help name one male salamander. The students were asked to choice between two names selected by the ambassador – Hiro, derived from Hiroshima, the salamanders’ home in Japan and Asa, of the City of Hiroshima Asa Zoological Park. Hiro won the student’s vote! –Jessica Porter

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“When the female of this species is satisfied that she’s found just the right home for her chicks in a tree, rock face or another nest, she gives it her final seal of approval—literally,” said Kathy Brader, bird keeper. “Using mud, droppings and food, the male helps the female wall herself into the nest, leaving a narrow vertical slit as her only opening to the outside world. Due to the nature of the way she is sealed in, we could only verify one chick, but there is a good possibility there may be another.”

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Following a final ultrasound and hormone analysis, staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo confirmed late yesterday (Tuesday, April 27) that female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) is not pregnant but was experiencing a pseudo, or false, pregnancy during the past several months.

Image right: National Zoo staff perform an ultrasound examination on giant panda Mei Xiang.

National Zoo scientists, veterinarians, keepers and volunteers from the Friends of the National Zoo were keeping a close eye on Mei Xiang, monitoring her hormone levels and behavior, as well as conducting weekly ultrasound exams in an attempt to determine if she was pregnant. On April 22, Mei Xiang’s progestagen concentrations had declined sufficiently to start the 24-hour watch. On reaching normal baseline levels, this decline ends in either the birth of a cub or the end of a pseudopregnancy. Based on current hormone analyses, and not having seen a fetus during the ultrasound exams, Zoo researchers have determined that Mei Xiang experienced a pseudopregnancy.

Image left: Mei Xiang (Meghan Murphy photos)

Female giant pandas almost always undergo a pseudopregnancy when they ovulate but fail to conceive. During a pseudopregnancy, hormonal changes and behaviors are identical to those of a true pregnancy, making it very difficult to determine if a giant panda is actually pregnant or not. This is the fifth time Mei Xiang has had a pseudopregnancy. Giant pandas ovulate only once a year. Mei Xiang gave birth in 2005 to Tai Shan, who was sent to Wolong’s Beifengxia Base in Ya’an, Sichuan, China, in February to join its breeding program.

National Zoo staff expect Mei Xiang to return to normal, hormonally and behaviorally, in the coming days, which includes an increase in appetite and activity level. The Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat will reopen today at 10 a.m. It had been closed to provide Mei Xiang with a quiet environment in the event that she did give birth.

Giant pandas are endangered; scientists estimate there are around 1,600 remaining in the wild.

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(Photo by Mehgan Murphy)

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This photo of an ocelot was taken by Smithsonian scientists during a recent camera-trap survey of these animals in the Peruvian Amazon.

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