Two of Edinburgh Zoo's famous pandas are being sent back to China after failing to breed since they arrived in Scotland over a decade ago.
Male Yang Guang and female Tian Tian, also known as 'Sweetie', have been together in Edinburgh since 2011 - but experts have admitted romantic feelings have failed to blossom between the pair.
Zoo keepers have had to resort to artificial insemination since 2013, reports the Mirror.
Chief Executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, David Field, said it was "hugely disappointing" not to be greeted with a baby panda - and admits it's unlikely Yang Guang and Tian Tian 'would have matched on Tinder'.
He said: "It’s hugely disappointing. Baby pandas are just beautiful. They are exquisite, they are endearing, they are glorious.
"They are one of the most fantastic ambassadors for people falling back in love with nature."
In the interview with the Telegraph, he added: "I think the biggest disappointment has been for Tian Tian, because that maternal cycle is really important for them as part of their natural behavioural repertoire – everything from all the hormonal cycles to the nest building to rearing.
"Sometimes animals just don’t get on. Genetically they were apparently an extremely good match but behaviourally, if it was Tinder, perhaps Tian Tian wouldn’t have swiped right if she had the choice.
"They are hugely emblematic, they are iconic for conservation and they make people smile with sheer abandonment."
Sweetie was mum to twins before she arrived in Scotland and it was hoped that another baby panda would come along.
But breeding pandas is notoriously difficult as female only ovulate once every year. Yang Guang was also castrated in 2018 after it was discovered he had testicular cancer.
The pair came to Scotland after a ten-year arrangement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association was agreed upon, which was given a two-year extension from 2021 to 2023.
The pandas may now return to China in October this year. Tian Tian and Yang Guang are set to be replaced by another “exciting” species that will be revealed in due course.
Experts say it is very difficult to tell if a panda is pregnant as foetuses tend not to develop much in the uterus. A panda's abdomen has lots of complicated parts and bowels filled with food that may make it hard for vets to see what they are looking for.
Expert vet and Reproductive Physiologist with the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Pierre Comizzoli, told Vice: "They have really large abdomens that have a lot of bowels filled with bamboo fibre and stuff like that.
"It's really difficult to detect the presence of the uterus and to see in the uterus the presence of a fetus."
Several attempts to get Tian Tian to breed have failed and Edinburgh Zoo was forced to announce in 2017 that she had failed to carry another pregnancy to term. It was the fifth attempt to get her to breed in Scotland.
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