It's mating season for giant pandas and two pandas at Singapore River Safari are getting ready to get intimate.

The 12-year-old male, Kai Kai, and 11-year-old female, Jia Jia, will be trying for babies for the sixth time having started in 2015.

The duo arrived in Singapore in 2012 on a 10-year loan from China, a gesture which symbolises the friendship between the two countries.

Mating season

Giant pandas only mate once a year and their mating season usually falls between March and May.

Female pandas will be ovulating or going in heat for two to four days during this period.

Gestation takes between 95 and 160 days.

The female pandas can give birth to one to two cubs each time.

Jia Jia and Kai Kai to mate again

The Speaker of the Parliament, Tan Chuan-jin, who is also the deputy chairman of the Wildlife Reserves Singapore, visited the duo during his recent trip to the Singapore Zoo and River Safari.

This year, Kai Kai will be back in action again as the keepers decided to let the two pandas mate, Tan announced in his social media post on March 28.

During past mating attempts, good semen samples might be lost when Kai Kai got too excited when he was brought together with Jia Jia.

Therefore, the keepers had also tried the artificial insemination method in past years to maximise the chances of pregnancy.

But that has not worked as well.

According to Tan, Kai Kai and Jia Jia have already swapped enclosures so that they can pick up each others' scent and stimulate hormonal changes.

The keepers will also be showing Kai Kai some R-rated videos to help him man up for the sexy time.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-QrjXNF8Ib/

Top photo via Tan Chuan-jin/Instagram and Jia Jia and Kai Kai/Facebook