Panda at Memphis Zoo no longer pregnant

Officials at the Memphis Zoo have announced that giant panda Ya Ya has suffered a miscarriage and is no longer pregnant.

The announcement was made after an ultrasound was conducted on the panda Wednesday afternoon.

The six-year-old panda, on loan from China, was artificially inseminated in January and the zoo announced in May that she was pregnant.

Zoo officials said the miscarriage was caused by Ya Ya's low level of the hormone progesterone, and she was not harmed by the pregnancy.

Ya Ya was artificially inseminated after she and her eight-year-old male companion, from China, failed to mate.

The zoo will attempt to mate the pandas again in January or February and will try artificial insemination again if that fails.