Adelaide Zoo's giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni are days away from their brief annual breeding season.
Fertility scientists will analyse Fu Ni's urine samples over the coming days to determine the peak of her cycle.
"Over the past few days Fu Ni and Wang Wang's activity levels have increased and they're displaying classic panda mating behaviours," senior keeper Simone Davey says.
Fu Ni has an extremely short fertility window, lasting just 36 hours each year, adding to the difficulty of a successful pregnancy.
"Giant pandas have an incredibly unique reproductive biology," Ms Davey said.
"As a result, it can be difficult for a panda to become pregnant in captivity, and even more difficult to confirm a pregnancy and achieve a subsequent birth."
"Wang Wang displayed dominant male behaviours last year and the artificial insemination process confirmed that his semen is of excellent quality, which provides the team confidence for this breeding season.
Once analysis of Fu Ni's urine sample reveal the right hormone changes, the two pandas will be brought together.
Wang Wang and Fu Ni are on loan to Australia from China for 10 years and arrived in Adelaide in 2009.
