Britain is saying goodbye to its only pandas as they soon leave for China
Britain’s only two pandas will soon be returned to China, officials said, in a farewell that has disheartened fans of the playful, waddling bears and signals what appears to be the end, at least for now, of the panda diplomacy.
‘Bamboo Bon Voyage’, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo said on its websitenoting that there would be “a huge farewell” on Thursday for the bears, whose names are Yang Guang and Tian Tian.
The pair of giant pandas will be prepared to return to China in the first week of December, the zoo said, although no date was specified due to “safety reasons”.
China has long used its pandas as symbols of diplomacy, supplying pairs as if they were ambassadors for various countries around the world.
On Wednesday, people gathered to say goodbye and take one last look at Yang Guang and Tian Tian, who have been delighting millions of Edinburgh visitors and residents for 12 years.
“We flew up for the day; we must be angry,” said Lauren Darling, who recently visited the zoo The Telegraph. “But it had to be done. It’s something that only happens once in a lifetime.”
Another visitor, Rebecca Plant, told the newspaper: “I think a lot of people will be sad that they’re gone.”
The pandas’ impending departure from Britain comes weeks after the three giant pandas at Washington’s National Zoo were also returned to China, at a time when tensions between the US and China continue to rise, prompting speculation that China demands the return of the pandas. because of the deep freeze in diplomatic relations.
But U.S. zoo officials and scientists said it came down to biology, or “panda time,” as the three pandas should be returned to China because they are of old age.
A similar reason was given by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The pandas, the zoo said, arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011 as part of a 10-year agreement between the organisation’s charity and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which allowed them to keep the pandas for an additional two years due to the pandemic.
Now that arrangement has reached its end. The zoo also said it would convert its giant panda habitat to welcome a new endangered species in the future as part of its mission to “protect more endangered animals around the world.” Until recently, pandas were considered endangered, but after conservation efforts they are listed as vulnerable.
Still, there was a mournful tone in the Scottish zoo’s announcement, which noted that it would no longer be receiving pandas any time soon.
“Their power to connect people with nature and encourage behavior change is invaluable,” the zoo said of Yang Guang and Tian Tian.
The only natural habitat for giant pandas is located in southwest of Chinawhere their striking black and white fur provides camouflage, and where they swim in streams and climb trees, spending 10 to 16 hours a day feeding mainly on bamboo.
When Yang Guang and Tian Tian first arrived in Edinburgh, dozens of people lined the streets of the suburb of Corstorphine, waving Scottish and Chinese flags to welcome the animals as they were transported to the zoo, while children held cut-out panda faces.
The pandas immediately charmed their visitors. She splashing around in puddles of waterturned acrobatically with their thick legs and ate “ice creams” on bamboo sticks.
“I’m so glad I saw them!” said a woman, one of the pandas’ first visitors The Telegraph in 2011.
However, that joy did not come cheap. Caring for Tian Tian and Yang Guang, including meeting their food and health care costs, cost the zoo charity about 35,000 pounds, or more than $44,000, per month.
The zoo also paid $500,000 a year to support the conservation and welfare of giant pandas in China.
While the pandas were in Scotland, zoo officials had attempted to breed them, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
“Now it’s time to move on,” the zoo said, “and just enjoy having Yang Guang and Tian Tian with us before they leave.”