Japan's only two pandas to be sent back to China: reports

Tokyo: Two pandas at a Tokyo zoo will be returned to China in January, Japanese media said on Monday, potentially leaving Japan without the beloved an...

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

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.

However, the twins are now set to be repatriated a month before their loan period expires in February, the Asahi Shimbun daily and other media outlets reported.

Tokyo's metropolitan government has been asking for the immensely popular mammals to remain at the zoo -- where they attract huge crowds -- but China didn't agree, according to the Nikkei business daily.