WASHINGTON 鈥� Sorry, panda fans; it turns out Mei Xiang, one of the giant pandas at the National Zoo, isn鈥檛 pregnant.
The zoo said in a statement Thursday that Mei Xiang had been having a 鈥減seudopregnancy鈥� over the past few months, since being artificially inseminated March 1.
Starting in early May, her hormones rose the way they would if she was pregnant, and she was behaving the way she would too, the zoo said, but the hormones returned to normal July 1, and an ultrasound Thursday confirmed that there鈥檚 no panda fetus. She won鈥檛 give birth this year, the zoo added.
Mei Xiang鈥檚 鈥渄enning鈥� behaviors will ease up, the zoo said, and they expect she鈥檒l be back to normal in a few weeks. The panda house had been closed because of the possible pregnancy, but it will reopen Thursday.
