Yang Guang and Tian Tian -the UK’s solely big pandas – are leaving for China right this moment after spending 12 years in Scotland.
For greater than a decade the massive, furry animals have been the star attraction of Edinburgh Zoo since arriving in 2011.
However, they’re now returning below the phrases of a 10-year settlement between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which was prolonged by two years because of the COVID pandemic.
David Field, RZSS chief government, mentioned the pair have had an “incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature”.
After arriving on British shores, the purpose had been for feminine panda Tian Tian and male Yang Guang to supply the pitter-patter of tiny paws, however they didn’t produce a cub.
Visitors got a ultimate likelihood to say farewell to the bears final week earlier than they had been ready for his or her return flight to China, with every travelling in a specifically designed steel crate.
‘A tragic and emotional time’
Michael Livingstone, a senior animal keeper on the zoo, will be part of them for the journey, together with an RZSS vet.
Mr Livingstone described taking care of the pandas because the “highlight of my career”.
He mentioned: “They’re very different to look after. As a team we have looked after many different species of bear and we were fairly confident we knew what kind of hurdles we might need to cross and jump over for looking after pandas, and when they arrived it was completely different to what we thought.
“They are a really delicate, very specialised species so we in a short time discovered all of the various things we wanted to do with them or round them.”
He added: “It is unhappy for us that they’re going again, I believe it is at all times been a type of issues that is simply been sooner or later and now we’re on the level the place it is really occurring.
“I can speak for myself and the other keepers in the team at the zoo that have looked after them – it’s going to be a bit of a sad and emotional time.”
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Professor Simon Girling, head of veterinary companies on the RZSS, mentioned the pandas have been in style with employees and guests alike and will likely be missed – including their presence on the zoo has helped with analysis and conservation efforts.
“It’s sad that Tian Tian hasn’t bred here, we would obviously really have liked her to have done so, but this is not unusual with giant pandas, they are difficult to breed, there is a reason why they’re endangered,” he mentioned.
“But at the same time, we’ve been able to collaborate with so many researchers around the world and we’ve been able to draw so many members of the public in to understand our conservation message here, and I think that has been a really positive thing, and we’ve got two lovely healthy pandas so we’re really pleased with that.”
Source: information.sky.com”