He eats shoots and then she leaves: Princess Royal meets the pandas

The Princess Royal met Tian Tian and Yang Guang yesterday as she toured Edinburgh Zoo in her role as patron of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

The Princess visited both pandas in their separate enclosures and helped with the feeding of male Yang Guang.

Head of research at the zoo Iain Valentine showed the Princess around the site and said she was very interested in the pandas.

He said: “The Princess is not new to the zoo but this was a chance to meet with the pandas.

“She was very impressed that she was able to get up close with the pandas and feed them as well. It’s not something we can do for anybody but the pandas come in to be fed at specific times and she was delighted to take part in that.”

Zookeepers believe the time for the pandas to mate may be nearing and they are carrying out daily tests to find out when they will be ready.

Female panda Tian Tian is expected to be in season at some point between the start of March and early May and the tests will help the zoo pinpoint when to introduce the pair for breeding.Mr Valentine said: “Hopefully over the next two weeks we may be introducing the pandas to one another and maybe we will have a baby panda for the next royal visit.

“A newborn would be huge not just for the zoo but for the whole of the UK – it would be the first time, but there is still a lot of work to be done on that front.”