Murphy takes zoo's panda plea to China

Published on Thursday 26 March 2009 08:58

THE prospect of two giant pandas being loaned to Edinburgh Zoo will take a step forward today when the Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy meets the Chinese foreign minister.

Mr Murphy will meet with Yang Jiechi in Beijing as part of a bid to secure a breeding pair of giant pandas for the city zoo.

It had hoped to have the animals in place by this month, to coincide with the zoo's centenary celebrations, but getting the help of the Chinese government has proved more difficult than expected.

Gordon Brown raised the issue with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, last year and although the Chinese authorities have been publicly very supportive, it has proved harder to secure the definite release of the pandas.

Mr Murphy hopes to speed that up by talking directly to the Chinese minister, but zoo managers do not expect the pandas in Scotland before 2010. If successful, Edinburgh Zoo would be the only UK zoo to have giant pandas.