Zookeepers have spent the last few weeks making sure the two pandas, Yang Guang and Tian Tian, are used to crates in preparation for their long journey, expected at some point in early December.
[1/4]Yang Guang, one of the giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, eats bamboo stalks in its enclosure, in Edinburgh, Britain, November 29, 2023.
REUTERS/Lesley Martin Acquire Licensing Rights"Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature," he said in a statement.
The return of the Edinburgh bears to China comes as a number of giant pandas have also headed home from the U.S., part of a fading legacy in which giant pandas served as animal ambassadors.
That began in 1972, when the government of China presented two giant pandas as gifts to the U.S. after President Richard Nixon's historic Cold War visit to the communist country.
Persons:
Zookeepers, Yang Guang, Tian Tian, David Field, Lesley Martin, Richard Nixon's, Washington's, Sarah Young, Jan Harvey
Organizations:
Edinburgh Zoo, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, China Wildlife Conservation Association, REUTERS, Edinburgh, Thomson
Locations:
China, Edinburgh, Britain, U.S, Memphis, San Diego