Jim Malcolm

Greetings from China…well actually Edinburgh Zoo. This is one of two of our giant pandas in Scotland, making them twice as common as Conservative Members of Parliament (chortle). They are so popular that you have to book in advance to see them which we failed to do. But we stuck around till nearly closing time and managed to sneak in to see them once the throngs had dispersed. They are spectacularly bad at breeding and it’s no surprise that so few of them are left. The males have the libido of a wet cardboard box. We were all very impressed when we got them from China until we discovered that we were only renting them – for a million odd pounds a year! Mind you they do seem to be pulling the crowds. Edinburgh Zoo seems now to be concentrating on helping endangered species these days and is less of a series of cages like the old days. Thanks to Sandy for the picture.