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The UK’s only pandas, Yang Guang and Tian Tian, will return to China this year
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Since their Panda Express cargo plane landed in 2011, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have enchanted visitors to Edinburgh Zoo.
But now the UK’s only giant pandas, also known as Sunshine and Sweetie, will return to China in early December.
Zoo bosses said that during almost 12 years in Scotland, the couple “have made an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature.”
Visitors will still be able to see the pandas, now 20 years old, before they return to the care of the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
The loan agreement enabled the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland to pay China an annual “donation” of £750,000 in the hope that a cub would be born.
The UK’s only giant pandas, also known as Sunshine and Sweetie, will return to China in early December. In the photo: Yang Guang
There are only two giant pandas in the UK. No offspring have been produced since their arrival in December 2011.
Despite efforts to breed the two pandas, the female Tian Tian has not had a cub during her stay in Edinburgh.
She was believed to be pregnant in August 2017, but her hormone levels and behavior returned to normal later.
Alison Maclean, carnivore team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, commented: “We are making arrangements with our partners in China for Yang Guang and Tian Tian to return in early December, possibly within the first week.”
‘Zoo visitors can expect to see them indoors and outdoors until the end of November, after which they will be able to see them outdoors only until they leave.
“Having cared for Yang Guang and Tian Tian since they arrived in 2011, I will be traveling back to China with them to help them settle into their new homes.”
David Field, Executive Director of RZSS, said: “With over a million species at risk of extinction and our natural world in crisis, Yang Guang and Tian Tian have made an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature. “.
Visitors will still be able to see the pandas, now 20 years old, before they return to the care of the China Wildlife Conservation Association. In the photo: Tian Tian
‘Through scientific research together with the University of Edinburgh, we have also made a significant contribution to our understanding of giant pandas, which will be of real benefit to efforts to protect this amazing species in China.
“It is encouraging that in recent years the outlook for giant pandas in the wild has improved, offering real hope for the future.”
The giant panda habitat at Edinburgh Zoo will become home to a new species that the RZSS will be allowed to keep in the wild, to be announced next year.
“Our vision is of a world where nature is protected, valued and loved, which is why we have made an important commitment to reverse the decline of at least 50 species by 2030,” Mr Field said.
“We have recently reached important milestones with the release of wildcats, pine hoverflies and beautiful dark-edged moths in the Scottish Highlands.
“With a fantastic home at Edinburgh Zoo, combined with our international experience in conservation science and research, we have the opportunity to help protect a new species through public engagement here in Scotland and in the wild, working with global partners”.