Panda Flirtations Raise Hope for Mating at Zoo

America’s giant pandas are flirting, and the prospects for a fruitful tryst are “better than ever,” experts at the National Zoo said Thursday.

Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, the roly-poly but shy gifts from China, spend three hours a day playing tag and romping on the panda-sized playground built last summer by zoo volunteers.

“This year they’ve become very amiable,” zoo spokesman Mike Morgan said. “They’re getting along very well, playing on the equipment, and they seem to be very enthusiastic about each other. It’s a change.”