Let us keep our pandas, China!
Edinburgh Zoo begs for bears to stay
THEY have become two of Scotland’s most famous and best-loved residents – but our only giant pandas are due to return to China next december after a decade-long loan.
However, bosses at Edinburgh Zoo – which has been home to Yang Guang and Tian Tian since 2011 – are set to plead with the Chinese authorities to let them stay.
David Field, chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which operates the wildlife park, is hoping to negotiate an extension to the popular pair’s stay.
He said the bears – known as Sunshine and Sweetie – have a ‘fabulous’ home in Scotland, adding: ‘The contract comes to an end at the end of next year and at this point in time they will be going back to China. I would love for them to be able to stay for a few more years with us, and that is certainly my current aim.
‘Those negotiations will start very early in the new Year.
‘Tian Tian and Yang Guang are amazing and inspire that emotional connection to nature. There is something special about them.’
The deal to bring the pandas to Scotland has cost a reported £600,000 per year. Last year, they were moved to a new £2.5 million enclosure at the zoo, funded by the Scottish Government.
Mr Field said there was ‘a big discussion’ to be had about funding an extension to the animals’ stay.
But the pandas continue to attract visitors to the zoo, which has seen its income plummet due to the pandemic. And hopes remain that Tian Tian might yet become pregnant in the coming year.
After failing to breed naturally with Yang Guang, Tian Tian has been artificially inseminated (AI) since 2013.
Mr Field said: ‘A cub for Tian Tian would be incredible. That’s really important for her and one of the factors I need to consider. Would she be able to breed if she went back to China?
‘If we were to proceed with another AI it would only be in the interests of the pandas themselves.
‘It would be a fantastic next chapter if we were in a position to do an AI and it was successful and we had that little cub – that would be just brilliant.’ The pandas arrived in Scotland in december 2011 on a flight dubbed the ‘FedEx Panda Express’. The loan followed five years of government talks.
At the time, Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to the UK, said: ‘This historical agreement is a gift to the people of the UK. It will bring our two peoples closer.’