Panda Baby On The Way At DC National Zoo?

WASHINGTON, DC -- National Zoo staff have artificially inseminated giant panda Mei Xiang in the hopes of getting a new panda baby this year.

Mei Xiang was inseminated at around 9 p.m. on Thursday, the National Zoo announced in a statement. Mei Xiang has given birth to three panda cubs already.

It will take three to six months for staff to know whether the insemination was successful.

We artificially inseminated #MeiXiang overnight! It will be three to six months before we know if she is pregnant. MORE: https://t.co/jeOSwAPkBV #PandaStory@FONZNationalZoo pic.twitter.com/57VLdggWX0
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) March 29, 2019

They have a very small window to make Mei Xiang pregnant, and they sprung into action when the giant panda started showing signs that she was ready.

"Scientists and keepers had been closely monitoring Mei Xiang’s behavior and hormones since she began displaying behavioral changes March 15, indicating she was entering her breeding season," the statement reads. "Daily hormone reports showed Mei Xiang’s estrogen levels peaked the evening of March 27, which means she was ovulating and able to become pregnant. Female giant pandas are only in estrus, or able to become pregnant, for 24 to 72 hours each year."

The panda team used Tian Tian's semen for the insemination.

“Every giant panda breeding season is slightly different, but Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have been displaying very clear and strong behaviors this year,” said Steven Monfort, John and Adrienne Mars director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, in the statement. “They made it extremely obvious to us that they were preparing for breeding, and in turn we have been tracking Mei Xiang’s hormones to make sure we didn’t miss the optimal window for an artificial insemination. It’s time to wait and see if we were successful.”

Mei Xiang had become restless in recent weeks, wandering the yard, vocalizing, and engaging in scent-marking. Tian Tian noticed this, and started indicating that he was ready to breed, vocalizing and spending a lot of the time at the window that separates their yards. Mei Xiang only recently started responding positively, the Zoo said.

"Scientists will also monitor her hormones to determine when she is near the end of a pseudopregnancy or pregnancy," the statement continues. "There is no way to determine if a female is pregnant by hormone analysis and behavior alone. Mei Xiang’s hormones and behavior will mimic a pregnancy even if she is experiencing a pseudopregnancy. The only definitive way to determine if she is pregnant before giving birth is to see a developing fetus on an ultrasound."

MAIN PHOTO: Giant Panda cub Tai Shan cuddles with his mother, Mei Xiang, while they eat melon balls in the morning at the Giant Panda Habitat at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park August 30, 2006 in Washington, DC. Weighing more than 62 pounds, Tai Shan (whose name means "peaceful mountain" in Chinese) turned one-year-old on July 9, 2006 and has helped draw an estimated 1.2 million visitors to the habitat since his December 2005 debut. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)