Once the female reaches peak oestrus she stops pursuing the male and allows him to mount, adopting the position usually known as lordosis. She stands on all fours and indicates her submission to the male by crouching and presenting her rump, and with her head lowered, sometimes tucking it right under so that her forehead rests on the ground or tree branch. She may even cover her eyes with her forepaw to show further indication of submission. Normally, the male approaches from behind and sniffs the female's anal area, and then, standing or squatting, he props himself up by resting his forepaws on her back and mounts. The male copulates for between half a minute and five minutes, sometimes mouthing at the female’s neck as he does so. The female may remain crouching for minutes on end during which time the male dismounts and mounts frequently, but briefly, sometimes thrusting. As he dismounts the female may turn and bite at him, although she sometimes just walks away.

It is the female pandas who call the mating tune. Copulation revolves around the male pandas’ period of peak heat but once this has ended all moves to mate stop until the next season. The giant panda's fleeting sociability ends and it resumes its solitary existence.