05 December,2011 08:32 AM IST | | Agencies
China, home to the world's giant pandas, has loaned two of the endangered species to Scotland for a whopping $935,000 (Rs 4.8 crore) a year.
The eight-year-old pandas named Tian Tian and Yang Guang (in pic) left China yesterday on a specially chartered Boeing plane FedEx Panda Express. "The specially chartered flight follows months of preparation and planning to ensure the pandas' travel is safe and comfortable at every stage of their journey," Gerald P Leary, president of FedEx Express Europe, was quoted as saying. Ahead of their trip, the pair was fed bamboo, favourite food of the giant pandas, at Chengdu airport. The pandas are to stay for 10 years at Edinburgh Zoo, where they are expected to breed and give Scotland its first Panda cubs. They will be given two weeks time to settle in after which they will be displayed to public.
