The Pandas Of Edinburgh Zoo | Inside The Zoo | BBC Scotland
Dec 30, 2025
Pandas are special and unique.
Some of the keepers, after a while, get a wee bit,
like, oh, here we go again.
Panda this, panda that.
I've got panda stuff, yeah.
Pictures, postcards, ornaments.
Well, my oldest son loves pandas,
so I've got about ten teddies in the house for him.
Two of the zoo's star attractions
since they arrived on loan from China in 2011
are the giant pandas,
Yangguan and Tiantian.
The only ones in the UK,
they're used to getting lots of attention
from an adoring public.
Everybody loves a panda.
I don't know, it's just like,
even just to get a glimpse of it,
everybody's just like,
what, a panda?
Everybody gets really excited.
These two precious bears
are also kept under constant surveillance
by the keepers.
This is how I spend my afternoon, you see.
And as it turns out,
they don't just laze around all day.
Whoa!
We try just about every year.
It would be absolutely amazing
if she actually has a youngster.
I think everybody's quite excited
and, you know, hoping for the best.
Every year we kind of go through the same symptoms.
You can actually see here,
this is one of the teats there.
You know, every year you get the build-up
coming up to, you know,
will she, will she not kind of thing.
So we know that there's a chance
that it might not happen,
but you're always in the back of your head
that this might be the year we might do it this year.
In case Tian Tian should need some extra help
raising her cub,
a combination of technology and willing keepers
are ready and waiting.
This is the incubator that we would use
if we were having to hand rear a panda.
We have it set up and ready every year.
The hope is that we don't have to put something in it
because it would be much better
for any young panda to be reared by mum.
When they're tiny, I mean, they need fed every two hours.
So there's not much sleep
for people who are looking after a baby.
It's quite a responsibility.
But for Alison and Sharon,
that really wouldn't be a hardship.
Pandas are their passion.