Britain will return the only pandas to China after 12 years without children | They were loaned for 10 years to keep

After years of unsuccessfully trying to get a puppy, Edinburgh Zoo announce it He will return to China in 2023 Giant panda couplethe It is only found in the whole of the United Kingdom.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) said on Wednesday last week that it plans to give Yang Guang and Tian Tian a “giant farewell” at the zoo before they leave this year.

As the UK’s only giant panda, Very popular with visitorswhich has helped connect millions of people to nature, as well as raise vital funds for wildlife conservation, said David Field, executive director of RZSS.

The panda couple has arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011 Under a 10-year loan agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Society.

However, it soon became clear They have no desire to conceive. Even zoo directors Try IVF to Tian Tian in 2013 but without success. Later, Yang Guang was castrated after being treated for testicular cancer.

Previously, attempts to breed pandas in captivity began in China in 1955, but did not bear fruit until a well-known bear named Ming Ming was born at the Beijing Zoo in 1963.

According to Edinburgh Zoo, Yang Guang and Tian Tian could leave the Scottish capital in October 2023, Two years after you extend your loan.

Giant pandas and reproductive problems

It is known for the giant panda Great difficulties in procreation in familieson condition lose interest mating naturally or simply They don’t know how to do it.

the Female pandas have one estrus cycle in the springduring which they are only fertile between 24 and 36 hoursaccording to conservation organization Pandas International.

The giant panda is native to the Tibetan plateau in southwestern China They witnessed the depletion of their population by poachers, who kill them for their skins, and for illegal cutting of treeswhich harms the growth of bamboo, its main source of food.

Pandas International estimates that the population of giant pandas in the wild is currently 1,864, while there are about 600 in captivity in private centers, zoos and nature parks around the world.

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