Giant Pandas, On Loan From China, Now Living in Scotland

The most famous pair of giant pandas arrived in Scotland on Sunday to a cheering multitude while officials announced the strengthened ties between the Scotland and China symbolized by the 10-year loan of the bears.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang (Sweetie and Sunshine as they are known in Scotland) disembarked at Edinburgh airport after a long flight from Chengdu, Sichuan province.

The couple was later received at the Edinburgh Zoo by around 450 people waving Chinese and Scottish flags. It must be said that the bears have had no less than a private plane to chauffer them on their trip with four crew members, two attendants, one veterinarian and a cargo handler among the retinue.

The Edinburgh Zoo said that, as part of the loan deal, it would pay $1 million a year to China as well as an additional 70,000 pounds a year to make available around 18,000 kg (almost 20 tons) of bamboo shoots, most of which will come from near Amsterdam.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang will not go on exhibit at the zoo for at least a week, until they have settled down in their new environment. They will remain there for 10 years, after which they will be returned to China with any of the young that they may have.

Considered nothing less than a national treasure, the giant panda have come back from the brink of extinction, but remains under threat.

An estimated 1,600 of them are living wild in China, most of them in Sichuan. Pandas are infamously difficult to breed because females ovulate only once a year and can only become pregnant during a two- or three-day period.

Still, many experts are willing to put in the time and effort to see that these animals live on for future generations.