Pandas at US zoo to be returned to China

Homesick for their homeland: LeLe (left) eating bamboo as YaYa takes a rest in their enclosure at the Memphis Zoo. — Reuters

MEMPHIS: A zoo in Memphis, Tennessee, is returning two giant pandas that had been on loan from China for 20 years, prompting celebrations by animal advocates who said the health of the animals had deteriorated due to neglect.

The announcement came after months of criticism by In Defence of Animals (IDA) and other advocacy groups that have accused the zoo of providing inadequate care to the pandas, Ya Ya and Le Le.