A zoo in Britain has carried out artificial insemination on a female giant panda to increase her chances of getting pregnant.

Edinburgh Zoo says scientists who were monitoring the pair noticed that Tian Tian, which translates as “Sweetie,” was showing signs that weren’t “conducive to mating.”

The zoo said that although the male, Yang Guang, or “Sunshine,” had been interested and showed encouraging behavior, “natural mating was not attempted.”

Officials said Tian Tian was artificially inseminated early Sunday and she was doing well, though both pandas will be taken off display until Tuesday.

The normal breeding season for pandas is between mid-April to May.

The two animals arrived from China in 2011, and are the only pandas in Britain.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/-DFe-uAdtAM/