The only pair of pandas present in the United Kingdom will return to China in 2023, Edinburgh Zoo (Scotland) announced on Wednesday.

A sad return, after decades of vain attempts to reproduce and found a family for these two mammals.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) plans to give Yang Guang and Tian Tian a "giant" farewell ceremony before they depart.

"They've been incredibly popular with visitors," said RZSS general manager David Field.

“We will create as many opportunities as possible for people to say goodbye to them.

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Get ready for a GIANT farewell as we start to plan Yang Guang and Tian's Tian's return to China later this year 🐼



There are lots of ways to say goodbye with our charity's new BEAR-rilliant panda experiences available to book from 9 Jan🎉



Find out more 👉 https://t.co/XFdDRBpNim pic.twitter.com/Ojh6OGnAB7

— Edinburgh Zoo (@EdinburghZoo) January 4, 2023

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No descendants in more than 10 years

The two pandas had arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011 under a 10-year agreement, which has been extended, with the Chinese Wildlife Association.

The couple even had the right to a tartan created in their honor, black and white for their fur and red in homage to China.

But very quickly, it appeared that the couple was not focused on love somersaults.

After several unsuccessful mating attempts, Tian Tian was artificially inseminated in 2013 and 2014… to no avail.

Yang Guang was then castrated in 2018 due to testicular cancer.

A particularly endangered species

Reproduction of pandas is particularly difficult in captivity.

Females are only fertile for 24 to 36 hours in the spring, according to the International Panda Conservation Organization.

In the wild, pandas live in southwest China.



Their wild population has been decimated by poachers, who hunted them for their fur, and by the damage of illegal logging to bamboo shoots, their main food.

According to the Pandas International organization, their population currently stands at 1,864, with about 600 in captivity around the world.

  • Panda

  • Scotland

  • UK

  • China

  • Reproduction

  • Threatened species

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