Yang Guang: The pandas are now more popular than the penguins. Pic: © RZSS
Penguins have been knocked off the top spot at Edinburgh Zoo after the arrival of the giant pandas from China.
For the past seven years, king penguins have been the most popular choice for visitors wanting to sponsor an animal.
But this year they have been relegated to second place by Tian Tian and Yang Guang.
Just two months after the black and white bears arrived in Scotland, panda adoptions already account for 16% of all animal sponsorships at Edinburgh Zoo.
In second place are the king penguins, followed by the gentoos and the rock hopper penguins. In fifth place is Walker the polar bear, who lives at Highland Wildlife Park.
Tracy Hope from the zoo said: "We've had an outstanding number of people adopt our pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang since they arrived at Edinburgh Zoo late last year. Due to their incredible popularity it’s not a surprise how quickly they became the new 'favourites' for adoption.
"Our king penguins had actually been top of the animal adoption list for the last seven years, but being very regal poised birds they seem to be taking the news very well."
The giant pandas came to Edinburgh Zoo at the end of last year as part of a deal with the Chinese government. It is hoped the endangered animals will breed while in Scotland.
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