Panda Mei Xiang started showing a spike in her hormone levels last month, an indicator that she could be pregnant, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo said Friday.
Zoo spokeswoman Devin Murphy tells CNN that the hormone spike included a steroid hormone, which could either be a sign that she is having a cub or that she would experience the end of a pseudo pregnancy in 30-50 days from then. The zoo first saw the spike July 20.
This week the scientists and panda experts noticed Mei Xiang was sleeping more, eating less and started to building a nest. She started exhibiting some of these signs last week, but Murphy tells CNN they were more pronounced this week.
“Those are behaviors that are consistent with a pregnancy or a pseudo pregnancy,” Murphy tells CNN.
The panda team is continuing to monitor Mei Xiang, as can most people with an high-speed internet connection on the zoo’s panda cam.