Beijing’s strained relations with the west are less easily mollified by loans of cuddly endangered bears

How to see Edinburgh Zoo's giant pandas before they return to China - Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrived in Scotland in 2011 but are due to return to their native land

Three giant pandas left their enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC, and departed by plane back to China on Wednesday, marking<a class="excerpt-read-more" href=" More

A Boeing 777 cargo plane, operated by China Southern, will carry them on the journey home. The pandas will travel in two bespoke metal crates, with sliding padlock doors, pee trays and removable screens so keepers can check on them during the flight.

The UK’s only giant pandas will depart for China on Monday after spending 12 years in Scotland. Yang Guang and Tian Tian came to Edinburgh Zoo in 2011 as part of a 10-year agreement between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and the China Wildlife Conservation Association,