Header ty

Please spare us yet more PR stories of “love tunnels”, “mood music” and “panda porn” from the Edinburgh Zoo publicity machine (“Yang Guang gets pill boost ahead of mating season”, 16 February).

Think about Yang Guang and Tian Tian and the stress that they’re both put under during each failed attempt to produce a baby to boost visitor numbers to this glorified animal prison.

Their stress is the inevitable result of the zoo’s greed as it tries to overcome the detrimental impact of captivity on the pandas’ natural desire to breed.

Pandas are sensitive and shy animals, which, if left alone, shun contact with humans.

People who genuinely care about them should recognise that every purchase of a ticket to Edinburgh Zoo prolongs the very real suffering that these pandas endure as they are exploited as nothing more than profitable marketing tools.

Ben Williamson

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

All Saints Street

London