Two red pandas at Drusillas have been treated to a specially prepared Valentine's date to encourage breeding.
The zoo is trying to encourage the pandas, Maja and Mulan, to breed by making a romantic set-up including red roses, paper hearts, and pink bunting.
Hidden treats of panda cake and sweet red grapes were also placed around the enclosure.
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Maja, a five-year-old male who arrived from Sosto Zoo in Hungary in 2019, is a 'toy boy' for Mulan, an 11-year-old female, who settled at Drusillas when she was just a year old.
The date was set up after the zoo was recently given breeding approval for red pandas by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria initiative, called the EEP studbook keeper.
The EEP Studbook is an initiative which aims to develop and maintain healthy animal populations through managed breeding programmes.
Head keeper Gemma Romanis said: "Obviously red pandas are adorable and the thought of cubs is unbearably cute, but excitement among the team at the prospect of babies is far deeper than just cuteness.
"Red pandas are endangered in the wild, so it's a real privilege as a zoo to be part of the conservation breeding programmes that contribute to the future survival of threatened species like this."
Before the zoo was given breeding approval, Mulan had a contraceptive implant which has now been removed.
Habitat loss and poaching have been two key reasons why red pandas have become endangered in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
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