Edinburgh Zoo’s resident pandas will return to China after almost a decade having failed to produce enough offspring because they ‘don’t get on’
- Scotland’s two pandas will be returned to China this year after failing to breed
- Female Tian Tian and male Yang Guang appeared perfect on their arrival in 2011
- Experts at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland admit ‘they just don’t get on’
Scotland’s two pandas will be returned to China this year having failed to produce offspring because they ‘just don’t get on’.
David Field, chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said female Tian Tian and male Yang Guang appeared to be a perfect match when they arrived from China in 2011.
Mr Field told the Telegraph the pandas did not gel at their new Edinburgh Zoo home.
He said ‘perhaps Tian Tian wouldn’t have swiped right’ in reference to the dating app Tinder.
Female Tian Tian, also known as Sweetie, had produced twins prior to her arrival in Scotland.
The male Yang Guang, also known as Sunshine, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2018 and was later castrated
The pandas, both 19, will return to China later this year.
Numerous attempts were made to encourage the pair to breed – with keepers even resorting to artificial insemination – since 2013.
Tian Tian, also known as Sweetie, had produced twins prior to her arrival in Scotland.
Yang Guang, also known as Sunshine, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2018 and was later castrated.
Mr Field told the newspaper: ‘It’s hugely disappointing. Baby pandas are just beautiful. They are exquisite, they are endearing, they are glorious.
Numerous attempts were made to encourage the pair to breed – with keepers even resorting to artificial insemination – since 2013
‘They are one of the most fantastic ambassadors for people falling back in love with nature.
‘But I think the biggest disappointment has been for Tian Tian, because that maternal cycle is really important for them as part of their natural behavioural repertoire – everything from all the hormonal cycles to the nest building to rearing.’
He added: ‘Sometimes animals just don’t get on. Genetically they were apparently an extremely good match but behaviourally, if it was Tinder, perhaps Tian Tian wouldn’t have swiped right if she had the choice.’
‘They are hugely emblematic, they are iconic for conservation and they make people smile with sheer abandonment.’
The pandas were deliverd to Scotland in 2011 on an initial ten-year arrangement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
The RZSS announced in December 2021 it had negotiated a two-year extension to the end of 2023 but officials have now said the pandas may return to China as early as October.
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