: Giant pandas heading for Edinburgh Zoo

Chinese officials have approved Edinburgh Zoo as the new home for two giant pandas, the first to live in the UK for almost twenty years.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang are due to arrive at Edinburgh airport this coming Sunday aboard a specially adapted cargo flight from China. The pair will then be whisked off to their new custom designed home at Edinburgh zoo which includes a pool, cave and bulletproof glass.

Picture Credit: J. Patrick Fischer

The names of the giant pandas when translated into English mean sweetie and sunshine, they are a breeding pair and officials hope they will defy the usual reluctance to mate among giant pandas and produce offspring at their new home.

A locally grown supply of bamboo will be supplemented by regular shipments from Holland and two discreet cameras will be placed inside the enclosure streaming live footage to the internet.

The pandas will be allowed to acclimatise properly for two weeks before they are unveiled to the public and the zoo, expecting a surge in visitors, will use a special booking system to usher groups through the new panda experience.

Edinburgh will be the eighth zoo in the west to care for the giant panda, one of the rarest species in the world. The pandas will initially spend 10 years at the zoo.

Club La Costa World’s Duchally Country Estate is just over an hour away from Edinburgh and the new additions at the zoo will provide a great day out for all the family.