Edinburgh Zoo urged to end panda programme

Edinburgh Zoo is being urged to sever links with its Chinese panda donors after footage of apparent animal cruelty emerged.

Disturbing film apparently showing a zoo keeper beating a panda cub at the Giant Panda Research Centre in Sichuan, China, has caused outrage.

The government facility “gifted” Edinburgh Zoo its pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang in 2011 as part of a £6 million-plus deal.

However the worrying film of apparent animal cruelty has prompted calls for Edinburgh Zoo to cut all ties with the Chinese body.

When the footage which apparently shows one of their keepers raining down four blows on a defenceless panda cub’s snout was leaked on social network sites in China last week it provoked widespread anger.

Scotland’s only zoo currently pays more than £600,000-a-year to the organisation for borrowing its two giant pandas.

In a letter sent to board members of the body who run the zoo, The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, charity Animal Concern slammed the zoo’s association with the Chinese organisation and its breeding programme.

John Robins, of Animal Concern Scotland, said: “The footage seems to show a zoo keeper using quite sharp blows and making contact with the panda’s snout, probably one of the most sensitive areas of the animal.

“You can see the panda recoiling in pain. I understand after this clip was shown in China there was outrage. I’m concerned at the way this animal was mistreated but I think the video shows a lot more than cruelty to a panda.

“Edinburgh Zoo has claimed that the Giant Panda breeding programme is part of a serious scientific exercise to return captive bred animals to the wild. But the few seconds of video shows that not to be the case.

“It shows three casually dressed people in the panda enclosure. Such close contact between humans and animals makes it difficult if not impossible for such animals to be successfully returned to the wild.

“I’m afraid the Edinburgh Zoo panda project has little if any conservation value and is a cynical tool of the Chinese Government.”

The letter from the organisation urges zoo bosses to scrap the multi-million pound lease agreement that is due to last until at least 2021.

It adds if that is not possible they should “think again” before attempting to breed the pair next summer.

Animal Concern isn’t the first organisation to question the veracity of the Giant Panda Research Centre’s breeding programme.

In 2012, Dr Sarah Bexell, one of China’s leading panda experts, said captive-bred pandas are no more than a ‘caricature’ of the real thing and are unable to survive in the wild.

It has been estimated a panda cub could be worth as much as £100m to Edinburgh Zoo.

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh Zoo said: “It would be inappropriate for us to comment, but we understand the individual in question has been suspended and the incident is being investigated.”