Young giant panda Xiang Xiang is being kept apart from her mother, Shin Shin, from Monday at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, according to zoo officials.
Giant pandas usually part from their mothers somewhere between 18 months to 2 years old. Xiang Xiang, who was born in June last year, began spending time apart from her mother in the morning from Nov. 13, when she turned 17 months old. The zoo then gradually extended the amount of time they spent apart and decided that Xiang Xiang was ready for complete separation from her mother because the young panda looked calm and showed a healthy appetite away from Shin Shin.
"Unless something unusual happens, they will continue living apart," an official at the zoo said. "Now that Shin Shin has finished rearing her child, she may show signs that she is ready to mate in February or March next year."
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