The birth of tiny panda cubs - seen live on television for the first time - was expected to captivate viewers in China。

在电视上首次直播小熊猫幼崽的出生过程，肯定会吸引中国的很多观众。

But fans of the endangered animals will be disappointed, because there will be no pitter patter of tiny paws any time soon。

但是熊猫迷们可能要失望了，因为最近可能不会有熊猫小幼崽出生了。

Experts say that the 'pregnant' panda who was to be the star of the show is not expecting after all, and may have been faking a pregnancy to cash in on cushy living quarters and extra treats at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre in China。

中国成都大熊猫繁育研究基地的专家称，本来会成为这次电视直播明星的“怀孕的”大熊猫事实上并没有怀孕，它可能是为了住得更舒适、得到跟多的优待而出现了“假孕”现象。

Giant panda, Ai Hin, showed signs of being pregnant last month, according to reports by state news agency Xinhua。

据新华社报道，上个月大熊猫爱浜出现怀孕的迹象。

But experts at the centre in the south western province of Sichuan, think she experienced a phantom pregnancy。

但是之后大熊猫基地的专家认为爱浜这种情况属于“假妊娠”。

Ai Hin’s ‘behaviours and physiological indexes returned to normal’ ahead of her TV debut, they said。

他们说，爱浜在其直播首秀之前被发现“行为和生理指标恢复了正常”。

It is standard practice at the breeding centre to take extra care of expectant giant pandas, as every cub is so important to preserving the highly threatened species。

在大熊猫繁育基地，给大熊猫“准妈妈”们特殊的照顾是很正常的，因为对于保护这种高濒危物种来说每一只幼崽都是十分重要的。

Mothers-to-be are housed in air-conditioned single rooms and receive 24-hour care。

“准妈妈”们都会住进单独的“空调房”里，并且安排专人24小时看护。

It is thought that the intelligent animals know their care improves when they are expecting。

有人认为，这种聪明的动物可能知道了自己在怀孕时会受到优待。

Wu Kongju, an expert at the centre told Xinhua: ‘They also receive more buns, fruits and bamboo, so some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life.’

大熊猫基地的专家吴孔菊告诉新华社记者：“怀孕的大熊猫还能得到更多的窝窝头、水果和竹子等食物，所以聪明的它们为了提高自己的生活品质可能会使些‘小手段’。”

Some of the bears continue to display pregnant behaviour after noticing their change of treatment and experts say that it is common for endangered animals to have phantom pregnancies。

有些大熊猫在待遇变化之后仍会表现出怀孕的症状，专家称大熊猫的“假孕”现象是比较普遍的。

Experts were led to believe that Ai Hin was pregnant as she became less mobile and had less of an appetite. They also noticed a surge in hormones at first – before realising the pregnancy wasn’t real, Gulf News reported。

爱浜当时是因为出现运动量减少、食欲降低等情况让专家们误以为她怀孕了。据《海湾新闻》报道，专家们在意识到爱浜是“假孕”之前，还在其体内发现了孕激素值上升。

Breeding centres such as Chengdu are needed to stop giant pandas teetering on the edge of extinction。

成都大熊猫基地的任务就是为了挽救这种濒临灭绝边缘的动物。

The animals’ natural habitat in the mountains has become more built-up and the bears have a low reproductive rate, making their survival perilous。

由于大熊猫的自然栖息地越来越少，再加上其繁殖率越来越低，它们的生存面临着危险。

Female giant pandas reach maturity at between four and eight years old and only ovulate once a year in the spring。

雌性大熊猫的成熟期为4-8岁，但只在每年春天排卵一次。

A short period of two to three days is the only time they can conceive and while a panda often gives birth to twins, only one usually survives。

它们能怀孕的时间只有短短的两三天，而当一只大熊猫产下双胞胎时往往只有一只能够存活。

Over a lifetime of around 35 years, female pandas typically only successfully raise five to eight cubs, so their slow breeding rate prevents the population from recovering quickly。

一只大熊猫一般能活35年左右，但雌性大熊猫一生中只能成功养育5-8个幼崽。低繁殖率使大熊猫无法快速恢复原有数量。

There are just 1,600 pandas living in the wild in China, as well as some 300 kept in captivity。

目前在中国，野生大熊猫仅有1600只，而圈养大熊猫仅有300多只。