Campaigners have called for the UK's only giant pandas to be given "political asylum" over fears they will be put down if they go back to China.
Yang Guang and Tian Tian have been unable to breed at Edinburgh Zoo since their arrival in 2011 - sparking fears among activists that they will be seen as "useless" following the end of their decade-long, £600,000-a-year lease deal.
The pair have been in the zoo for 10 years and came to Scotland to be part of a breeding program.
John Robins, of the charity Animal Concern, told The Scottish Sun: "I have real concerns that if they go back to China they could end up on the dissection table.
“They are only of real value to the Chinese as a breeding couple."
He speculated they would be opened up and assessed to find out why they failed to produce offspring.
He added: "It might be the only sensible thing is for the Scottish Government to give them political asylum and not send them back.”
Mr Robins said the animals have "done nothing but suffer".
It costs the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland £35,000 a month to care for the pandas - whose names mean Sunshine and Sweetie.
Income for the charity that runs the zoo was more than £20million in 2018 but plummeted to £14m last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yang Guang was castrated three years age and attempts to artificially inseminate Tian Tian has been unsuccessful.
RZSS chief exec David Field said: “We remain in discussions with our colleagues in China about Yang Guang and Tian Tian’s future at Edinburgh Zoo. We still hope to extend their stay and will keep everyone updated.”
Iain Valentine, the zoo’s former director of animals, conservation and education, said the panda's stay here “has been a huge success for the society and has had a big economic impact for Scotland”.
He insisted the pair have not suffered and if they go back to China they would likely end up in a “retiral home for older pandas”.
A Scottish Government spokesman said the issue is between RZSS and China Wildlife Conservation Association to make a decision.
