Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On January 10, 2011, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association signed an agreement known as "the China/UK Giant Panda Project" in which China would loan a pair giant pandas to Edinburgh Zoo for a period of 10 years in addition to bilateral cooperation on giant panda conservation and research for that period. The agreement was signed at Lancaster House in London. It was witnessed by visiting Vice-Premier Li Keqiang and British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. During the period, the two giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, a breeding pair born in 2003, will be under the custodianship of RZSS at Edinburgh Zoo. The original 10-year deal involved annual donations of $1m (about £750,000) to conservation efforts in China [see Source ID#159503]. On March 16, 2011, Acting Consul General Zhou Youbin attended the dinner in recognition of "the China/UK Giant Panda Project" in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle. The event was organized by the Scottish Government and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. On December 4, 2011, giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrived at Edinburgh Zoo. Upon their arrival, British Minister of Scottish Affairs Moore, Deputy Chief Minister of Scottish Local Government Sturgeon, Mayor of Edinburgh Grubb, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland Fullerton, CEO Luo Hu and others went to the airport to greet them. Edinburgh Zoo had reportedly built a £250,000 panda house for the two Chinese pandas [see Source ID#159488]. In April 2019, a redevelopment of the former Corstorphine Hospital intended to become high-rise apartments located next to the zoo necessitated a relocation of the pandas and a new enclosure to be constructed. The development was believed to possible endanger the health and wellbeing of the pandas and negatively impact their ability to breed. The Scottish Government agreed to provide £2,102,936 to contribute to the cost of a new enclosure. In September 2019, the pandas moved into this new £2.5 million enclosure. In early December of 2021, an agreement was signed to extend the stay of the two pandas an additional two years with the pandas set to return to China at the end of 2023. According to the RZSS, the extended agreement includes an annual payment of $500,000 (about £375,000) which is half of the agreed upon amount in the original agreement. This is often referred to as a loan payment when, in fact, this donation supports giant panda conservation, welfare and research in China.