Zoo’s £70k bamboo bill

edinburgh Zoo is to spend around £70,000 a year importing bamboo from the Netherlands to feed its giant pandas.

A farm near Amsterdam will supply 85 per cent of the 18,000 kilos of bamboo which Tian Tian and Yang Guang are expected to eat every year. The remainder will come from a network of UK growers, it was reported today.

The imported bamboo will arrive every two weeks by ship and lorry and will be kept in a specially created storage facility to ensure maximum freshness.

Zoo gardens manager Simon Jones said: “Our bamboo strategy is the result of more than three years of research, planning and exhaustive negotiations with suppliers.”

About 25 species of bamboo will be involved, with the pandas being fed five different kinds every day to ensure a varied diet.