Two giant pandas have arrived in Edinburgh, after a nine-hour journey from China. Tian Tian and Yang Guang - or Sweetie and Sunshine - are to live at Edinburgh Zoo for the next ten years and it is hoped the pair will breed.
The specially-chartered flight for Edinburgh Zoo's new residents, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, touched down just after 13:00.
The pandas arrived to wintry conditions in Edinburgh with temperatures of about 3C, having left temperatures of 10C at Chengdu Airport.
Tian Tian was first to be taken off the 777 aircraft, the "FedEx Panda Express", in her specially-designed crate with perspex sides. The female panda and Yang Guang were then loaded onto a lorry for the 15-minute trip to the zoo.
FedEx Express said the pair had enjoyed in-flight meals of bamboo, apples, carrots, a special panda cake and mineral water.
They were accompanied by a vet and two animal handlers from Edinburgh Zoo and the Bifengxia Panda Base.
Messages and artwork by more than 1,000 Chinese children, wishing Tian Tian and Yang Guang good luck in their new home, were sent with the pair. Crowds gathered at the zoo, to welcome the pandas, as they arrived.
Tian Tian, meaning "sweetie", and Yang Guang, meaning "sunshine", will have two weeks to settle in to their new enclosure before going on display to the public.
The pandas' new £250,000 home at the zoo includes two separate enclosures. When Tian Tian comes into season the pair will be introduced to each other - possibly in February or March. Tian Tian has had twin cubs in the past, and Yang Guang has also fathered cubs - though not as a pair together.
Bringing the pandas to Edinburgh has involved a five-year effort by the zoo. The eight-year-old pair will stay at the zoo for at least 10 years. Officials hope their presence will boost tourism and the Scottish economy.
The Scottish government said the loan of the pandas symbolised a "growing friendship" between Scotland and China.
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