A highly anticipated giant panda birth will no longer be happening.

Keepers in China discovered that the giant panda that was thought to be pregnant, Ai Lin, is actually not going to be giving birth to a little cub after all, according to NBC News.

Ai Lin was reportedly expected to be the focus of the fits live broadcast of the birth of a panda cub.

China's Xinhua news agency reported that keepers discovered that Ai Lin of the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Center had a "phantom pregnancy." Panda experts have reportedly stated that it's not uncommon for giant pandas to demonstrate prenatal signs such as decreased activity level, a lack of appetite and heightened hormone levels even when they aren't pregnant.

It is also reportedly possible for the giant panda to have noticed the extra care offered by keepers.

"After showing prenatal signs, the 'mothers-to-be' are moved into single rooms with air conditioning and around-the-clock care. They also receive more fruits and bamboo, so some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life," panda expert Wo Kongju joked to the Chinese media outlet.

It is notoriously difficult for giant pandas to get pregnant. Panda researchers have frequently encountered these "phantom pregnancies" that come with behavioral and hormonal changes that make it difficult to know whether the animals are actually going to give birth, according to the website Cananda.com.

There are fewer than 2,500 mature pandas in the world, according to the United Nations list of endangered species. The World Wildlife Fun estimates an even smaller population of about 1,600.