

Edinburgh Zoo pandas: 16 photos of giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang in Edinburgh over the years
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.

13. Hanging around
Giant Panda Tian Tian enjoys a nap in a tree in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo. Photo: Jane Barlow

14. Birthday boy
Yang Guang celebrates his 19th birthday in style. Giant pandas can live up to around 30 years old in captivity, and around 20 in the wild. Photo: LISA FERGUSON

15. Splash!
Yang Guang has a bath at Edinburgh Zoo on New Year's Eve, 2011. Photo: Neil Hanna
