Edinburgh Zoo

On Sunday 4 December 2011 our two Giant Pandas on loan from China arrived at Edinburgh Zoo. They will be off show for a couple of weeks to let them settle in to their new home. General viewing will open on Friday 16 December 2011, book your tickets now to avoid disappointment.

Female Tian Tian was born in August 2003 at the Bifengxia breeding centre in the Sichuan province of China. Her name translates to Sweetie in Chinese. She is described as having a mischievous nature and being quite fussy when it comes to bamboo.

Male Yang Guang was also born in August 2003 at a breeding facility in Mongolia. He moved to the Bifengxia breeding centre in March 2011. His name mean sunlight and he is described as a good-natured gentle giant. 

 Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo

Tian Tian and Yang Guang can be found in the enclosure next to the monkey house, behind the penguins

Giant Pandas in the wild

Giant pandas live in the montane forests of the central Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu.

Ninety-nine per cent of a Giant panda’s diet consists of different types of bamboo. Pandas will also eat eggs, meat, grasses and vegetables if these are available. Adult Giant Pandas are largely solitary but they do communicate through calls and scent marking and do occasionally meet outside of the mating season.

Female pandas are only able to conceive for two to three days in the spring. This short mating season makes successful reproduction difficult.  After a gestation period of five months the female panda will give birth to one or two cubs.

During the first few months of their lives panda cubs are entirely dependent of their mums for survival. They are born blind, hairless and unable to move. Cubs are also tiny, roughly the size of a stick of butter when born. A adult panda is roughly 900 times bigger than a new-born cub.

After six to eight weeks the cubs will open their eyes for the first time and after three months they are able to move around independently. Although cubs will feed on their mother’s milk until they are around one year of age they start eating bamboo at around six months.

Once cubs reach around one and a half to two years of age they will leave their mothers and begin an independent life.  

Giant pandas are the rarest members of the bear family and one of the most endangered species in the world. In the wild pandas are under threat from habitat destruction and are classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List, meaning these animals face a high risk of extinction in the wild. Current estimates suggest there are between 1000 and 2000 Giant pandas remaining in the wild.