The UK is returning lonely pandas to China after 12 years without breeding

First Amendment: 04/01/2023 – 19:28

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) reports that it plans to give Yang Guang and Tian Tian a “giant send-off” at the zoo before they leave this year.

“As the UK’s only giant panda, it has been incredibly popular with visitors, helping to connect millions of people with nature, as well as raising vital funds for wildlife conservation,” said RZSS Chief Executive David Field.

The pair of pandas arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011 under a 10-year loan agreement with the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Society.

But it soon became clear that they did not want children. Zoo officials attempted to artificially inseminate Tian Tian in 2013 without success.

Yang Guang was later castrated after being treated for testicular cancer.

Giant pandas are known to have great difficulty reproducing in captivity, as they naturally lose interest in mating or simply do not know how to mate.

According to conservation organization Pandas International, female pandas have one estrus cycle in the spring, during which they are only fertile for 24 to 36 hours.

Attempts to breed pandas in captivity began in China in 1955, but did not bear fruit until Ming Ming was born in 1963 at the Beijing Zoo.

Originally from the Tibetan plateau in southwest China, giant pandas have seen their populations depleted by poachers, who kill them for their fur, and by illegal logging, which harms the growth of bamboo, their main source of food.

Pandas International estimates that the wild giant panda population is currently 1,864.

There are about 600 in captivity in private centers, zoos and nature parks around the world.

According to Edinburgh Zoo, Yang Guang and Tian Tian could leave the Scottish capital in October 2023, two years after extending their loan.

© 2023 AFP