So Yang Guang and Tian Tian are on their way back to China. Rather like a pair of high-profile celebrities, the giant pandas travelled in convoy to Edinburgh airport this morning, with every detail of their last days in the UK scrutinised in dewy-eyed detail.
They’re not travelling business class, not quite, but they do have specially constructed metal crates apparently complete with sliding padlock doors, bespoke pee trays and removable screens so the keepers accompanying them can check on them during the flight. ‘I think they’ll be fine. I’m sure they’ll have a safe journey,’ said Rab Clark, the zoo’s blacksmith, who built the crates.
Arguably the giant panda, which China calls its ‘national treasure’, is the country’s most successful export
The duo were the last remaining giant pandas in the UK and had been at Edinburgh zoo for 12 years, two years longer than planned because of the pandemic. They were enormously popular, with a rush to see them in the weeks before they left.
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