Edinburgh Zoo is no longer home to the only giant panda in the United Kingdom since the pandas have departed for China.
At about 1:40 PM local time on Monday, December 4, Tian Tian and Yang Guang left the airport in the capital for Chengdu. For the 13-hour journey, the animals were placed into purpose-built containers and transported on a cargo jet operated by Boeing 777 China Southern.
After a breeding experiment failed to produce a cub, China's 12-year loan to Scotland came to an end.
Sad Day for Zookeepers, Visitors
It was a sad day for workers and tourists alike, according to David Field, chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS). He said that everyone was experiencing that feeling as they waved them go this morning.
"It's hard. These animals have been huge parts of their lives for the last 12 years. It's sad not just for our keepers, but our members, our visitors, and all those people who have watched them on pandacam," Field stated, as reported by BBC.
The pandas were accompanied by a Chinese envoy, an RZSS veterinarian, and an Edinburgh Zoo keeper as they took flight.
The zoo's blacksmith created two special metal containers for the animals' transportation. Each container has sliding lockable doors, urine trays, and detachable screens, allowing keepers to monitor the animals during the journey.
The boarding process was temporarily halted on the tarmac due to a paperwork problem, but eventually, the containers were lifted aboard the airplane.
To ensure they had food for the duration of the trip, a stock of bamboo was also brought on board.
Since the beginning of November, the pandas in Scotland have been kept in isolation to reduce the likelihood of illness transmission. The animals will likely undergo a short quarantine in China before being welcomed to their new home in Sichuan province.
Their stay in Scotland began in December 2011. Two more years were added to the loan to compensate for the zoo's shutdown because of the COVID outbreak.
Panda Diplomacy Seems to Be Ending
Unfortunately, the departures of the pandas have occurred just as ties between Beijing and the West are becoming tighter, making the loan of endangered bears less of a solution.
According to The Guardian, China's panda diplomacy began in the seventh century when it made an effort to strengthen ties with Japan by sending two bears to their nation. Modern Chinese leaders embrace this approach.
The recent decade saw recipients in Europe and Qatar. However, no new pandas have been transferred to the United States in 20 years.
Leader Xi Jinping recently said China was eager to maintain links with the US, but there are no clear plans on this topic, and many pandas are returning to China as loan conditions expire. Three pandas from the Smithsonian were repatriated last month, while Zoo Atlanta's four-bear arrangement ends next year.
