This week we learned Edinburgh Zoo’s much-loved giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang will be returning home to China. Since arriving in December 2011, the beautiful animals have drawn thousands of people to see them.
It was hoped the pair would have a cub together to help preserve the future of the species – but this wasn’t to be. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland was granted the pandas by the China Wildlife Conservation Association as a 10-year loan to Edinburgh Zoo. They are the only giant pandas in the whole of the UK. The Covid pandemic extended their stay, but it has been announced Tian Tian and Yang Guang will be leaving the Capital in around Autumn 2023.
9. Yang Guang
Yang Guang receives some delicious treats ahead of his 19th birthday on 14 August, 2022. Photo: LISA FERGUSON
10. A royal visit
The Princess Royal was taken to see Tian Tian the female panda on 26 February 2012. Photo: Ian Rutherford
11. Bamboo
Giant pandas must eat between 12-38kg of bamboo a day. They have evolved to depend entirely on bamboo, making them vulnerable to habitat loss in the wild. Photo: Ian Georgeson
12. Reflection
Yang Guang, the male panda, takes a stroll by the pond in his enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo Photo: Neil Hanna