Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, where a pair of giant pandas have arrived from China, is already hoping for a newborn by summer.
Zoo manager Teruyuki Komiya did not hide his excitement when Bili, a 5-year-old male, and Xiannu, a 5-year-old female, arrived in a truck escorted by police cars late Monday.
"We have heard people miss pandas. We would like to have panda cubs born in Ueno," Komiya said as some 200 journalists from 70 media organizations from Japan, China and other countries gathered for the pandas' arrival.