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Royal Zoological Soceity of Scotland
The UK's only female giant panda Tian Tian has been artificially inseminated at Edinburgh Zoo.
Experts carried out the procedure on Sunday after her annual health check, the zoo said in a tweet.
Tian Tian, which means Sweetie, has failed to produce a cub despite repeated artificial inseminations since her arrival at the zoo in 2011.
The zoo and giant panda outdoor walkway are open, but the panda indoor viewing area will remain closed.
Panda reproduction is notoriously difficult, partly due to the very short breeding window with ovulation occurring only once a year.
Staff had hoped Tian Tian would mate naturally with the zoo's male giant panda Yang Guang but when this did not happen, a decision was taken to artificially inseminate her using Yang Guang's sperm.
Some animal rights campaigners have in the past criticised the use of artificial insemination and attempts to breed the animals in captivity as there is no intention to return to them to the wild.
The giant panda breeding programme at the zoo was suspended last year with officials saying they wanted to make improvements to the pandas' enclosure before attempting future breeding.
The two giant pandas arrived in Scotland in December 2011 and are being rented by Edinburgh Zoo from the Chinese government for a decade for an annual fee of about £600,000.
Tian Tian had previously given birth to twins in China but all attempts to produce a cub at Edinburgh Zoo have failed.
Zoo staff believe she may have been pregnant on a number of occasions but pandas sometimes re-absorb the foetus during the course of the pregnancy.