New home: The pandas are coming to Edinburgh Zoo. Pic: © STV
A Scottish castle has offered up its bamboo plantation to help feed two giant pandas coming to Scotland.
Kelburn Estate and Country Centre in Ayrshire said Edinburgh Zoo can have unlimited free access to its crop.
Breeding pair Tian Tian and Yang Guang will come to Scotland under an historic agreement with China, and will be be the first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years.
Zookeepers must ensure they have enough food for the pandas, each of whom munch between 20kg and 30kg of bamboo every day.
Zoo officials say they are considering the Kelburn's offer, as well as other offers from around the UK.
The estate is home to Patrick Boyle, the Earl of Glasgow. He said: "When we heard that Edinburgh Zoo was having difficulty in locating sufficient quantities of bamboo we immediately got in touch as we have plenty to spare.
"It was brought to the estate by my great-grandfather, the 7th Earl."
The estate reportedly has around 51 square metres of three types of bamboo.
A spokesman for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which owns the zoo, said: "Since the announcement that giant pandas will be coming to Edinburgh Zoo, we have had offers from a number of sources throughout Scotland and the wider UK, of which Kelburn Estate is one.
"We are naturally grateful to everyone who has offered support and have been following up the various options with a view to assessing feasibility and how they might fit with our overall plans."
The agreement to allow the pandas to come to the UK was announced in January during an official visit by Chinese vice-premier Li Keqiang.
The animals are expected to arrive in Edinburgh by the end of the year.
