Tearful Japanese queue for hours to bid farewell to pandas

Visitors watch the giant panda Shin Shin at Ueno Zoo (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Thousands of Japanese fans have bid a tearful farewell to two pandas that made their final public appearance at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo on Saturday before returning to China for medical treatment.

The pair, Ri Ri and Shin Shin, are the parents of Xiang Xiang who returned home last year.