WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
Britain’s only pair of giant pandas have been photographed in their new home at a sanctuary in China after a 5,000-mile journey.
Giant pandas Yang Guang (Sunshine) and Tian Tian (Sweetie) were at Edinburgh Zoo for 12 years until they flew to China yesterday.
They were photographed sitting at a table enjoying a meal with two other pandas in their new home in China.
Pandas were a popular attraction at Edinburgh Zoo and will be sorely missed by regular visitors.
The duo were boarded yesterday on the 1.45pm flight to Beijing along with boxes of leaves after the 10-year agreement, which was extended by two years, between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and the Chinese Association for Wildlife Conservation.
Giant pandas Yang Guang (Sunshine) and Tian Tian (Sweetie) were at Edinburgh Zoo for 12 years
The duo boarded the 1.45pm flight to Beijing yesterday along with boxes of leaves after the 10-year agreement.
The UK’s only giant pandas photographed sitting around a table eating in Chongqing township, southwest China.
Some Edinburgh Zoo fans were left heartbroken after the ‘panda cameras’ they had tuned into over the years showed nothing but an empty enclosure.
One person posted a heartbreaking image on X, formerly Twitter, of a lonely zookeeper cleaning Yang Guang and Tian Tian’s old house.
They wrote: ‘Good riddance, sad to see panda cam keepers cleaning the enclosures of their bamboo chunks for the last time this morning.
“It must be very emotional for them, thank you for all the hard work looking after them.”
RZSS marketing director Lisa Robshaw said it was very strange watching the live broadcast on BBC Breakfast and she would miss the web traffic “almost as much as the pandas”.
Another said: ‘Awww I’m going to miss these two and Panda Cam made me happy seeing them.’
While a fourth said: “He was a big fan of panda cameras.” Safe home Yuan Guang and Tian Tian.
Giant panda Yang Guang at Edinburgh Zoo before embarking on his 5,000 mile journey to his new home in China.
People watch as giant pandas Yang Guang and Tian Tian are loaded onto China Southern cargo plane.
Others commented on a post on Edinburgh Zoo’s Facebook page about the pandas’ last day at the zoo.
One social media user said what he would miss seeing them on cameras.
They wrote: “A sad day and have a safe and happy trip, we will miss seeing you on webcam eating bamboo late at night XXx.”
Another had visited the zoo to say goodbye for the last time and told how he had “shed a tear” when he left.
They wrote before the pandas left and said, “Thank you so much for having them for the last 12 years. It was wonderful to see the magical pandas in person and learn so much about them,” they wrote.
‘Good luck to the guardians tomorrow and until they leave for China and best wishes to Yang and Tian in their new home in China, my husband and I wish them a long and happy life.
‘Thank you for the wonderful memories/images and footage to treasure.
“He’ll be glued to the cameras until they turn off.”
The 13-hour flight featured a keeper and a veterinarian from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), a Chinese keeper and an airline official sat behind the pilot and co-pilot, while the rest of the seats were removed. of the specially chartered China Southern. plane
‘Panda cam’ fans took to Facebook and X to tell how much they would miss seeing the pandas, with one revealing how they had shed a tear after visiting the zoo this week to say goodbye.
Visitors said goodbye to the mammals on Thursday, and the zoo began preparations for their return to the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association base in Chengdu.
The base, founded in 1987, is a world-class research center, conservation education center and international educational tourism destination, and has twice won the Global 500 Honor Roll for Environmental Achievement, the highest environmental award in the ONU.
Covering an area of more than three square kilometers, the base has several luxury panda “villages” hidden in the mountains and forests, allowing the bears to coexist in a region with countless trees, streams and bamboo plants, as well as like more than 700 species of plants. And animals.
Covering an area of more than three square kilometers, the base has several luxury panda “villages” hidden in the mountains and forests, allowing the bears to coexist in a region with countless trees, streams and bamboo plants, as well as like more than 700 species of plants. And animals.
To bring the pandas to their new home, Edinburgh Zoo blacksmith Rab Clark has built two bespoke metal boxes with padlocked sliding doors, pee trays and removable screens so keepers can check on them during the flight to Sichuan.
The boxes measure 190 cm long, 146 cm high and 127 cm wide, which the bears have become accustomed to in recent weeks.
The Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association’s base in Chengdu, founded in 1987, claims to be a “world-class research facility and conservation education center.”
The pandas have been in quarantine since early November and will also spend time in quarantine when they arrive in China to comply with animal health regulations.
The two bears undergo regular veterinary checks, including blood and feces samples, to ensure they are healthy and do not transmit any diseases to China.
A low-loader truck was hired to transport the pandas from the zoo to Edinburgh Airport.
Pandas tend to get up late, so zoo staff had been gradually moving up their wake-up time to get them used to an earlier start.
The exact time was kept secret to reduce the chance of disruption from crowds of supporters or protest groups, as many feel the zoo should never have accepted the pandas in the first place.
The panda boxes were loaded with a forklift onto stand 12 of the Edinburgh Airport terminal building.
The 13-hour flight will feature a keeper and a veterinarian from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), a Chinese keeper and an airline official will sit behind the pilot and co-pilot, while the rest of the seats have been removed. of the plane specially chartered in China. South plane.
The pandas will have health checks, food and water during the flight, but humans on board will have to heat their own food in the onboard microwave because there will be no cabin crew.
Royal Zoological Society of Scotland chief executive David Field said it was “hugely disappointing” not to be greeted with a baby panda.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Field said: “It’s hugely disappointing. Baby pandas are just beautiful. They’re exquisite, they’re endearing, they’re glorious.
‘They are one of the most fantastic ambassadors for people who fall in love with nature again.
‘I think the biggest disappointment has been for Tian Tian, because the maternal cycle is really important to them as part of their natural behavioral repertoire: everything from all the hormonal cycles to nest building and parenting.
‘Sometimes animals just don’t get along. Genetically they were apparently a very good match, but in terms of behavior, if it were Tinder, maybe Tian Tian wouldn’t have gotten it right if she had had the option.
“They are hugely iconic, iconic for conservation and make people smile by their sheer abandon.”
Edinburgh Zoo will replace pandas with another “exciting” species, which has not yet been revealed.