Edinburgh Zoo staff go to great lengths for new 'panda-cam'

Male panda Yang Guang is showing signs that he is ready to mate. Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

Edinburgh Zoo has launched a new and improved “panda-cam” so people across the world can watch two giant pandas in the run-up to mating season.

However, to ensure viewers see the highest quality footage of Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine), staff members donned panda suits and roamed around the pen.

The unusual behaviour was to help replicate the pandas movement, which helps the cameras in tracking the animals

Click here to watch the "panda-cam" on the Edinburgh zoo website.

Mr Orsi added that when “the time is right for the pandas to mate, it will be private and take place out of view of the 'panda-cams'”.

However, viewers of the “panda-cam” can expect to see other seasonal behaviour including scent marking, panda hand stands and increased appetite for bamboo.

Yang Guang (Sunshine), the UK's only male giant panda, has started to show signs that he is ready to mate, sparking hopes that Edinburgh Zoo could see some panda cubs in the future.

Read: Excitement builds as Edinburgh pandas look ready to mate.