London Zoo only spent money on bamboo. The pair of pandas were presented to Mr Heath, when he was Prime Minister by the Chinese government. The cage they were housed in is now used for the colobus monkeys. I think I'm right in saying that it has hardly been modified at all, they have just removed the barrier that could be used to separate the pandas.
When they were younger they did climb in the framework below the roof of the cage, but they were not very active. I saw the panda(s?) at Paris, Vincennes at that time, it/they had much more space and were more active.
With panda-fever seeming to sweep through Europe does anybody think it likely that giant pandas may return to London at some point, or is Edinburgh likely to be their only UK home?
I think these days a purpose-built enclosure, or like Edinburgh, a properly and suitably modified one, would have to be built to receive them. That would require another huge outlay by ZSL. I know of no current plans to apply to the Chinese for any but the future might be different.
