Japan will be without a panda for first time in 50 years

Two pandas at a Tokyo zoo will be returned to China in January, the Tokyo government said on Monday, potentially leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.

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Loaned out as part of China's “panda diplomacy” programme, the distinctive black-and-white animals have symbolised friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalisation of diplomatic ties in 1972.

Japan currently has only two pandas, Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao, at Tokyo's Zoological Gardens in the Ueno neighbourhood.

But the twins are now set to be repatriated a month before their loan period expires in February, said Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which operates the Ueno zoo.