[] [BTBBT Daily - 12/5]Scottish welcome for giant pandas

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TWO giant pandas from China landed in Scotland yesterday, where they will become the first pandas to live in Britain in nearly two decades.

The 8-year-old pair, named Tian Tian and Yang Guang - or Sweetie and Sunshine, were welcomed by the sound of the pipes and a host of dignitaries as they touched down at Edinburgh Airport on a specially chartered Boeing 777 flight called the "Panda Express."

The pandas, from the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, are to stay for 10 years at Edinburgh Zoo, where officials hope they will give birth to cubs.

The female, Tian Tian, has had twin cubs in the past, but not with Yang Guang. The male panda has previously fathered cubs as well.

The Scottish government has said the loan of the pandas symbolizes a growing friendship between Scotland and China.

Zoo officials have spent the past five years securing the loan of the animals, which are expected to boost Scottish tourism.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland will pay more than 600,000 pounds (US$935,000) a year to China for the loan of Sweetie and Sunshine, not including the expense of imported bamboo.

The pair of pandas, which were given an in-flight meal of bamboo, apples and carrots, will have two weeks to settle at Edinburgh Zoo before going on display to the public.

They will be kept in two separate enclosures for a few months until they are ready to be introduced to each other.

The zoo also plans to put four hidden "panda cams" in their enclosures and stream the footage online to attract viewers from around the world.

In 1974, British Prime Minister Edward Heath received two pandas from the Chinese government as a goodwill gift to mark his visit to China. The two pandas became a much-loved attraction at London Zoo, but never produced any cubs.

Britain's last giant panda, Ming Ming, lived at London Zoo until 1994, when she was returned to China.

Since the 1950s, China has given away pandas as gestures of goodwill in what has come to be known as "panda diplomacy".

The giant panda remains under threat from logging, agriculture and rapid urbanization.

There are an estimated 1,600 living wild in China, almost all in Sichuan. Around 300 are in captivity around the world, the vast majority of them inside China.

Pandas are difficult to breed because females ovulate only once a year and can only become pregnant during a two or three-day period.