This return of pandas is part of a broader movement to return these animals to China, while tensions are being felt between this country and Western powers.
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Two giant pandas loaned to the United Kingdom in 2011 flew away on Monday, December 4, to return to China, while diplomatic relations between London and Beijing have cooled. As announced by the Edinburgh Zoo (Scotland) on Facebook, Yang Guang, a male, and Tian Tian, a female, boarded a cargo plane which will take them to the city of Chengdu, in the province of Sichuan .
Scientists have long hoped that the duo, who arrived in 2011, would take advantage of their Scottish stay to reproduce, but the animals did not have any babies. Yang Guang and Tian Tian had been loaned as part of a 10-year agreement between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association.
A new stage in “panda diplomacy”
These were the only specimens of this endangered species present in the United Kingdom. Yang Guang and Tian Tian arrived thanks to “panda diplomacy” led by Beijing, which sent these animals to around twenty countries to seal the improvement in its diplomatic relations. But relations have become strained in recent years between China and certain Western powers, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
Last month, three giant pandas loaned to the Washington Zoo since 2000 also returned to China, as reported by CBS News. Four other pandas are also due to leave Zoo Atlanta during 2024.
