Punters pile in to Edinburgh Zoo giant panda pregnancy market

A quick poll around those here at Ladbrokes News HQ suggests one event more than others is at the top of people’s agenda this August. The return of the Premier League? No. York’s Ebor Festival? Afraid not. US Open tennis? Don’t be silly!

Of course the event we are all looking forward to the most is the impending arrival of Giant Panda cubs at Edinburgh Zoo.

With “the latest scientific data” suggesting the park’s resident female Tian Tian is indeed carrying one or more cubs, symptoms of Panda Fever are beginning to show.

While the species are known to go through ‘pseudo-pregnancies’, with their body’s hormones suggesting they are impregnated when they are not, staff at the zoo are “keeping their fingers crossed” that a cub will arrive at the end of the month.

But punters at Ladbrokes seem to be of the opinion that the establishment could be on the lookout for more than one panda-sized crib.

The firm are offering a huge 33/1 that Tian Tian and her male partner Yang Guang will show off three or more babies, with a whopping 76% of bets struck on the market opting for a big litter.

It’s even money for ‘twins’, or 4/6 for the cub to be an only child, the most likely option.

A relatively large litter in Edinburgh wouldn’t be the first of their kind, with a zoo in southern China unveiling the world’s first known surviving panda triplets last week.

If it’s a bet on the sex of the first born you are after, it’s 4/5 for a girl, or even money that the zoo will be doling out for a blue baby grow in the near future.

For those who, like us, just can’t wait for Tian Tian’s big day, you can keep an eye on her with Edinburgh Zoo’s Panda Cam.

All odds and markets correct as of the date of publishing.

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