A file photo taken on September 14, 2022 shows female giant panda Tian Tian in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo. /CFP
Giant panda Yang Guang and Tian Tian will be returning to China later this year after a special farewell party at Edinburgh Zoo, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) said.
The two arrived in the United Kingdom in December 2011 on a 10-year-long research program and are currently the only pandas in the country.
The name of the male panda, Yang Guang, means Sunshine in Chinese, while the female was named Tian Tian, or Sweetie. Both pandas were born in August 2003.
A file photo taken on July 10, 2019 shows the male giant panda Yang Guang taking a stroll at Edinburgh Zoo in the United Kingdom. /CFP
In the first two years in Edinburgh, attempts were made for the pair to mate naturally. Thereafter, annual attempts using artificial means were carried out.
In 2018, Edinburgh Zoo said that the giant panda Yang Guang had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and was later castrated after treatment.
Yang Guang and Tian Tian could leave the Scottish capital as early as the end of October 2023, two years after their loan was extended.