Panda diplomacy adds to Britain's exotic animal love affair

They're podgy, hairy and spend all day eating lunch. Yes, pandas make the perfect diplomats.

In the 1950s the People's Republic of China started lending pairs of bears to whichever country happened to be in favour. Bear-mail dates to the Tang dynasty, when the Empress Wu Zetian sent a pair to the Japanese Empress; but the explosion in "pandaplomacy" is a modern phenomenon.

It worked best with America, notably when Richard Nixon's 1972 visit secured the loan of Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing. He sent back a pair of musk oxen. Panda-lending's peak years were from 1958 to 1982, when China sent 23 pandas to nine countries.

Britain secured Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching in 1974. Now Tian Tian "Sweetie", a female, and Yang Gang "Sunshine", a male, are due to land at Edinburgh Airport today to take up residence at the city zoo.

Scotland has a similar climate to Sichuan Province where most pandas, including these two, come from. They are being given their own compounds, with separate his'n'hers quarters, complete with a cave, climbing tree and pond.

Zookeepers are praying the bamboo-munching marsupials - no, they are not actually bears - will approve of their £250,000 ($501,000) home, as they can be rather fussy.

The pandas are being rented for £600,000 a year.

The zoo plans to recoup the money by charging £12,000 a pop for corporate visits. The pandas are also expected to increase visitor numbers by 70 per cent. Not that anyone should expect too much excitement: pandas sleep for 10 hours a day and spend the rest of the time eating.

While pandas have become the symbol of animal diplomacy, they are just one breed from the diplomatic ark.

Wives and tigers

Henry III married Eleanor of Provence in 1235 and was rewarded with three leopards by the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. They were sent to the Tower of London for safe-keeping and, over the years, it became quite a menagerie. A lion was next, followed by a polar bear in 1252, a gift from Norway's King Haakon IV. They put it on a long leash and let it catch its own breakfast in the Thames.

Trunks and drunks

The biggest animal to live at the Tower was a male African elephant, donated by Louis IX of France in 1255. It had a 4m wooden house built by the Sheriffs of London, who later converted it into a prison cell. They gave it wine to drink, so he was permanently drunk. As the zoo grew, it was opened to the public. Those who couldn't afford the three-pence entry fee could pay by cat or dog, which were fed to the lions.

Tooth and claw

"Mad" George III was given a grizzly bear called Martin by the Hudson Bay Company. He also got a cheetah from India, courtesy of the Governor of Madras, Sir George Pigot, in 1764. The Tower zoo was closed by the Duke of Wellington in 1831.

Tall stories

George IV was given a giraffe by the Pasha of Egypt in 1827, who also sent one to Paris and Vienna. Each caused a sensation, though only Charles X's survived. A giraffe given to Lorenzo de Medici in 1486 by the ruler of Egypt became a Florentine celebrity, appearing in paintings by Ghirlandaio and Vasari. Special heated stables were built but its head became stuck in the beams and it broke its neck.

Ming dynasty

Britain's first panda was Ming, who arrived in 1938, but she liked to keep a low profile, and never achieved celebrity status. The first star panda was Chi Chi, who came in 1958 and stayed until her death 14 years later. She was scheduled to stay only three weeks, but was so popular that she was bought for £12,000. Peter Scott used Chi Chi for his WWF logo. Attempts to mate her with Moscow Zoo's An An came to nothing, and she died cubless in 1972.

- INDEPENDENT