Image: Edinburgh Zoo/Instagram/Playback
Pandas Yang Guan and Tian Tian are packed and ready to return to China. The pair was sent to Edinburgh Zoo in England in December 2011 as part of a 10-year contract with the China Wildlife Conservation Society.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the animals’ stay was extended. Now, the pair are due to leave British Zoo by the end of October 2023, although the details of the journey have yet to be finalized and released.
Yang Guan and Tian Tian were not sent to England to decorate the park. The partnership was aimed at breeding animals, which has not happened over the years.
In 2013, zoo officials tried to artificially inseminate Tian Tian, but it was unsuccessful. After this episode, Yang Guang had to be castrated after treatment for testicular cancer.
According to Pandas International, population Giant pandas Show from today 1864. The number of animals in captivity is close to 600. These mammals were heavily affected by poaching and illegal logging, which harmed the growth of bamboo, the animal’s main food source.
Breeding is also not an easy task. Females of the species have a single estrous cycle in spring, in which they are fertile for only 24 to 36 hours. Additionally, giants in captivity lose interest in mating or don’t know how to do it.
However, the giant pandas will get a well-deserved farewell from British Zoo as they are the only animals in the UK and have attracted many tourists over the past 12 years. Visitors can buy from 9th Collections Breakfast on site and learn more about this animal. One of the ads even allows the public to feed Yang Guang.
Funds raised in the initiative will go back to the conservation of other endangered species such as the wild cat in Scotland, chimpanzees in Uganda and the giant armadillo in Brazil.
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