Giant Pandas Begin Their Journey To Scotland

Two giant pandas bound for Edinburgh Zoo have departed China on a specially-fitted private plane that will deliver them to Scotland later today.

Sunshine and Sweetie - the two seven-year-old pandas that have been loaned to the zoo by the Chinese Government - were given a breakfast of carrots and protein cake before passing through customs.

Their individual crates, each labelled "one panda" were then loaded on to the Boeing 777 that will transport them to Edinburgh.

On board, Sunshine and Sweetie will enjoy an in-flight meal of bamboo. Adult pandas eat around 4kg of the plant a day.

"Pandas can feel quite stressed when they're in the air," said Dr Tang Chunxiang, a vet from China's Giant Panda Research Base who will accompany the pair during the flight.

"To calm them down I'll talk to them. I'll say 'don't worry, I'm here with you'".

Sunshine and Sweetie will be flown by a team of four pilots, all of whom donned kilts in honour of the journey from Chengdu in western China, to Scotland.

"These are precious animals," said the head of the flight crew Captain Paul E. Cassell.

"They'll be looked after like first class passengers."

The pandas' departure from China is the culmination of four years of campaigning by both the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the British Government.

The panda loan is for a decade, and will cost £600,000 a year.