A panda couple in Taipei zoo, a gift from the Chinese mainland, have been separated from each other with the hope they will mate on the upcoming Valentine's Day, also the first day of the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year.

Taipei zoo director Jason Yeh said the female panda, Yuan Yuan, recently went into heat for the second time.

The first time she went into heat was on Feb. 14 last year. Female Pandas usually go into heat in February or March.

But the male panda, "Tuan Tuan," may not be ready. He is a few months younger than "Yuan Yuan" and is not yet sexually mature, a Taipei zoo spokesman said.

But despite Tuan Tuan's sexual immaturity, the zoo had made full preparation for their possible mating.

Yeh said the zoo built a pool in the pandas' outdoor field for the couple to cool off in during the period.

The zoo also prepared a "bridal chamber" in the same enclosure to give the pandas some privacy, and to let them "get familiar with the place one by one," he said.

According to the spokesman, if the couple only play with each other without any sign of erotic desire, keepers will separate them and wait for their heat period next year. Pandas easily become agitated when they are on heat, and it is necessary to keep males at a safe distance to prevent fights.

But they can't be kept too far apart, however, otherwise the pandas won't recognize each other's smell, he said.

The zoo said in a statement that it hopes people will "wish them success in producing offspring."

The 5-year-old panda pair, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" (the names together mean "reunion" in Chinese), have attracted 3.6 million visitors since their arrival on Dec. 23, 2008, from southwestern Sichuan Province. They made their public debut on Jan. 26, 2009, after a month of quarantine.

Previous reports said the zoo had kept them separated since late 2009 to keep them fresh for each other and to arouse their erotic feelings.

Zhang Hemin, director of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, said: "Female pandas are like girls, who often mature earlier than boys. But all pandas are mature between five-and-half to seven-and-half years of age."

The zoo is training Tuan Tuan's thighs and muscles in expectations she will become pregnant and give birth -- a much hoped-for event for people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Female pandas in captivity become sexually mature at the age of four or five. They normally go into heat in the spring and give birth to one or two cubs in autumn, the pregnancy lasting for 83 to 200 days.

China has been working hard to tackle giant pandas' breeding problems, and zoologists have resorted to artificial insemination techniques.

The mainland announced in May 2005 it would give two giant pandas to Taiwan as "a gesture of goodwill." The gift was delayed for more than three years for political reasons. Improved cross-Strait ties made their journey to Taiwan possible.

Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered animals. Last year's figure show there are about 1,590 pandas living in China's wild, mostly in Sichuan and northwestern Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. In 2007 there were 239 captive-bred giant pandas in the country.