Twin pandas at a Tokyo zoo are set to be returned to China in late January, leaving none in the country for the first time in around half a century.

The deadline for the return of Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, who have lived at Ueno Zoological Gardens since birth, is approaching in February under a bilateral lease agreement between Tokyo and Beijing.

Earlier this year, four pandas at a zoo in Wakayama Prefecture were also sent back to China, leaving only the twin pandas at Ueno in the country.

(Cover: Giant panda Lei Lei eats bamboo at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo, Japan, November 28, 2025. /VCG)