A Bolton company will help keepers to “weigh-up” the health of the two Chinese giant pandas settling into Edinburgh zoo.

Scalesexpress.com has adesigned and supplied a purpose-built weighing scale to monitor the health of Tian Tian and Yang Guang, the first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years.

The company, which supplies a wide range of scales to both consumers and businesses, worked with supplier Salter Brecknell to design a robust scale with a waterproof platform that was installed into the purpose-built enclosure in June, in readiness for their arrival, which was at the start of December.

Gail Hounslea, managing director of Bradshaw-based Scalesexpress.com, said: “We were thrilled when Graham Catlow, the animal project design officer from Edinburgh Zoo, approached us back in May to ask for help in designing and supplying a scale capable of weighing the pandas.

“Our scales expert Dan Brough worked with Graham and various suppliers to design a solution that included a platform that could be mounted in the interior of the pandas’ enclosures, with an indicator on the keeper’s side.”

Both pandas have had cubs in the past but not as a pair together. The two eight-year-old pandas are expected to stay at the zoo for at least ten years.

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