UK returns its only pandas to China after 12 years without cubs
The pair moved to Scotland in 2011 as part of a decade-long deal with the Chinese to protect the species.
They may return to China in early October.
Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had their days on Scottish soil. A pair of giant pandas that live at Edinburgh Zoo, and are the only pandas of their kind in the whole of the UK, will return to China later this year after 12 years without breeding. The animals arrived in the country in 2011 under a ten-year contract with the China Wildlife Conservation Society.
Speaking to a British newspaper “telegraph”, David Field, executive director of wildlife conservation society Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), said Yang Guang and Tian Tian seemed like the perfect pair when they arrived in the country. However, they did not get along well during the years they spent together.
“Sometimes animals just don’t get along. Genetically, they were obviously a very good match, but behaviorally, if it was Tinder, Tian Tian wouldn’t have swiped right if given the choice.” The director joked. In 2013, the zoo sought artificial insemination in Tian Tian. However it was not successful.
Yang Guang, also known as “Sunshine”, and Tian Tian, known as “Girlfriend”, arrived in Scotland on a special Panda Express cargo flight in 2011. In December 2021, RZSS announced that the ten-year contract would be extended for two more years until the end of 2023. However, officials hope the couple will return to China by October itself.
When they arrived in 2011.
A big farewell
To celebrate Yang Guang and Tian Tian’s final months in the UK, Edinburgh Zoo has prepared a range of activities to give the couple’s admirers a chance to say goodbye.
Schedule and ticket prices available site From the zoo. They cost between €19 and €5,700 and individual or group visits, brunch, pancake tasting and various tours are available. However, RZSS managing director David Field said the pair’s return to China was “extremely disappointing”.
“Baby pandas are very beautiful. They are charming, famous and one of the most beautiful ambassadors to make people fall in love with nature”, he emphasized. . From all the hormonal cycles to nesting and rearing.”
On the other hand, she shares that the two are “very happy” and will have a great life in China. “They’re very iconic, they’re iconic for conservation and they make people laugh.”
Click through the gallery to meet Yang Guang and Tian Tian.
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They came to Scotland in 2011.
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