熊猫盈盈和乐乐在一起的十年，在今年疫情期间繁育季节到来时，它们之间好像发生了一点变化。

If the world wants more pandas to 'get it on', perhaps all we humans need to do is get out the way.

 

Far from the prying eyes of the public, two captive giant pandas in a closed Hong Kong zoo are making up for lost time with a whole lotta boning. Well, not a whole lot. Just once, but for this particular couple that's something to celebrate.

 

In the 10 years Ying Ying and Le Le have known each other, they've never once gotten down and dirty. And yet, this breeding season, amid a global pandemic, something between them seemed to change.

 

In late March, after a month or so of unusual privacy, Ying Ying began spending more time in the water. Meanwhile, Le Le began leaving a trail of scents around his habitat, actively searching for his companion's smell all the while. On Monday the two were seen cuddling. Love was clearly in the air.

 

At 9am, the deed was done and dusted, according to zoo officials.

 

Nevertheless, the zoo made no mention of the coincidental timing, only that the pandas had clearly learned to copulate after years upon years of "trial".

 

So is this a sign we should leave pandas alone more if we want them to procreate in future?

 

Despite their reputation, zoologists have long argued pandas don't actually have as low a sex drive in the wild as they show in captivity; they're actually quite frisky beings.

 

"It is a phoney issue to say that pandas face a breeding crisis that we have to solve," Jim Harkness, a panda expert and the former China representative for the World Wide Fund for Nature, told The Guardian back in 2006.