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Japan to Have No Pandas for 1st Time Since 1972 with Return of Ueno Zoo’s Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei to China (Update 1)

Courtesy of Tokyo Zoological Park Society
The giant panda Xiao Xiao in November

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:51 JST, December 15, 2025 (updated at 15:13 JST)

Twin giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Taito Ward, Tokyo, will be returned to China in late January 2026, the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Tokyo Zoological Park Society announced on Monday. The two 4-year-old pandas are currently the only pandas kept in Japan, and there are no prospects for new loans.

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Once the twins are returned, Japan will be without any pandas from China for the first time since 1972, when Kang Kang and Lan Lan arrived following the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China.

Courtesy of Tokyo Zoological Park Society
Lei Lei in November

The twins, one male and one female, were born in June 2021 to Ri Ri and Shin Shin, who were on loan to Ueno Zoo from China. The twins’ parents returned to China in September 2024, and their older sister, Xiang Xiang, returned in February 2023. In June, four pandas were given back to China from the Adventure World theme park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, leaving Ueno Zoo as the only facility in Japan keeping pandas.

With the return due date for the two pandas approaching in February 2026, the Tokyo metropolitan government, the central government and the ruling parties asked China if Japan could continue caring for the current pandas or a new loan. However, Japan-China relations have rapidly deteriorated following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark during Diet deliberations about a potential Taiwan contingency.

China has historically used the popular pandas as a diplomatic bargaining card. “Our efforts are facing difficulties, and we are preparing for a ‘zero panda’ situation for the time being,” said a metropolitan government official.