Put away the baby shower presents - the Cincinnati Zoo reports its female polar bear, "Anana," is not pregnant.
"Unfortunately we're going to have to try again next year for polar bear cubs," says zoo Communications Director Michelle Curley. "Anana's latest fecal samples showed a big drop in progesterone, so that combined with an increased appetite are signs that she actually is not pregnant."
Zoo employees and volunteers had been monitoring her around the clock. The 24-hour watch has been canceled.
The zoo was watching Anana because she was showing signs of being pregnant. There is no reliable pregnancy test for polar bears.
To be clear, Anana did not miscarry. She was never pregnant. "Polar bears can have pseudo-pregnancies, which means that they act as if they're pregnant but they may or may not be," Curley explains.
The zoo is working on creating a pregnancy test and has a team dedicated to the task.
The animal had been staying indoors but is now back outside swimming and enjoying her habitat, Curley says.
"Everybody was so excited ... so, there's a lot of disappointment today when we're realizing it's not going to happen this year."
Watch Zoo Director Thane Maynard talk about polar bear pregnancies:
https://youtu.be/TyEd-bNJwYg
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