Talk of the town: Panda poo can make the zoo stinking rich

WHILE the visitor boost created by the arrival of giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang to Edinburgh Zoo will go a long way towards meeting the rental cost of the animals, bosses may be pleased to hear there is more than one way to get money from the animals.

The two pandas have settled in well to their new home, but with the zoo paying £600,000 a year to the Chinese government, and having to meet the cost of the pandas’ £70,000-a-year bamboo habit, they might be glad to hear about an unusual form of recycling.

A Chinese entrepreneur has created the world’s most expensive tea, a unique leaf costing £22,000 per pound and yielding a “mature and nutty” taste.

The secret to this brew is that it was grown in panda poo – 11 tonnes to be exact, which An Yashi insists gives it a unique taste and fills it with healthy ingredients.

Gasps of disbelief at new Tory chief’s poll claim

THE popularity of the Tories in Scotland is such that the SNP’s latest favourite jibe is to point out there are more pandas in Edinburgh Zoo than Tory MPs in Scotland.

So there were gasps of disbelief in the Holyrood chamber yesterday when new Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson told fellow MSPs: “Every opinion poll ever published shows that the people of Scotland agree with me.”

She was arguing the case for Scotland staying part of the UK, but it was still quite a claim.

Karen’s space mission

HER character has, of course, already seen plenty of the universe (and other universes to boot), but former Telford College student Karen Gillan has now revealed she’d like to go into space for real.

The 24-year-old, who is quitting as Doctor Who’s Amy Pond, said she wants to see “the wonders of the universe”.

She added: “On a serious note, I want to go to space. I find it amazing people float around up there. It looks so much fun.”

Free-for-all on the menu

HE’s one of the city’s top chefs, and a man whose culinary creations usually command a high price.

But Mark Greenaway has thrown the world of fine dining open to all for January – by giving diners the opportunity to pay what they think their meal was worth.

The promotion, aimed at drumming up business at his restaurant in Picardy Place in the usually slow month of January, runs until the end of the month and will offer “suggested” prices, though the generous chef admitted it would be up to the customer what they pay.