Edinburgh Zoo’s giant pandas have enough bamboo to get through pandemic
Giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang munch through up to 40lb of bamboo per day in their enclosures at Edinburgh Zoo.Concerns for the iconic animals were raised after it emerged that Canada's Calgary Zoo plans to return its own pair to China because of problems getting enough bamboo to feed them, caused by a scarcity of flights because of Covid-19.Edinburgh Zoo bosses say that while they are still asking the public for donations to help meet their £55,000 per month animal food bill while they have no visitor income, they have no concerns about bamboo supply.They added that, as a result, they are not considering sending their star attractions back to China.Jo Elliot, animal collection manager at Edinburgh Zoo, said: "We have made sure that our stores are topped up and ready, which means that we have a bit of resilience there if we do have any supply chain issues."Many of the animals have specialist diets - obviously the pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, need their bamboo. Most of it gets shipped in from the Netherlands, and at the moment that is fine, we are still getting deliveries."Giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrived at Edinburgh Zoo in 2011 on a ten year loan from China, for which the Scottish Government pays around £600,000 per year.It was hoped Tian Tian, whose name translates as "Sweetie", would produce an historic cub in Scotland but efforts have so far failed. Panda reproduction is a notoriously tricky process, however, with females only ovulating once a year.This year, attempts were thwarted by the coronavirus. Plans were in place for Tian Tian to be artificially inseminated for the seventh time since she arrived in Scotland, in March, but it was impossible for vets to carry out the procedure while respecting social distancing advice.Darren McGarry, head of living collections at Edinburgh Zoo, said at the time: "Giant pandas can only become pregnant during a short period, usually over a few days in spring."Although the artificial insemination process is routine, it requires a specialist support team and the veterinary guidance at the moment is for vets to respect the social distancing advice and provide emergency care only. These are unprecedented times and we fully support these measures."Edinburgh Zoo is currently closed to visitors following government advice on coronavirus and social distancing, but the attraction has appealed to the public to donate funds to help feed its variety of animals, which also include rhinos, zebras and penguins.