The Calgary Zoo is to return two giant pandas on loan from China because a scarcity of flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused problems with getting enough fresh bamboo to feed them.
Er Shun and Da Mao arrived in Calgary in 2018 after spending five years at the Toronto Zoo and were to remain in the Alberta city until 2023.
Calgary Zoo president Clement Lanthier on Thursday said that the facility spent months trying to overcome transportation barriers to acquire fresh bamboo and decided that it is best for the animals to be in China, where their main food source is abundant.
Photo: AP / The Canadian Press
Bamboo is rare in Canada and pandas prefer only certain kinds.
“They are picky,” Lanthier said. “There’s a reason why they are endangered. They need their bamboo. That’s all they do. They eat bamboo and they sleep.”
The zoo had contingency plans for a steady supply of fresh bamboo, but limits on flights from China were the first problem, Lanthier said.
Transporting more from California added even more frustrations, he said.
“Every 10 days there is more and more problem moving bamboo to Calgary. This risk is unacceptable,” Lanthier said.
“I cannot risk not being able to provide the best care to the panda every day. For other species there are options. For the panda it has to be freshly delivered twice a week. It’s time for the panda to go back home,” he said.
The animals did not like some of the bamboo they got from other parts of the US, he added.
“It wasn’t tasty enough,” Lanthier said. “The panda discarded that shipment.”
Other supplies that arrived from Los Angeles were past their expiry point, he said.
“The shelf life of bamboo is four to five days maximum,” he added.
Giant pandas have unique nutritional requirements, with 99 percent of their diet made up of fresh bamboo. Each adult consumes about 40kg daily.
The news came as a bit of a shock to the Chinese government, Lanthier said.
In other locations where pandas are exhibited — such as France, Spain and parts of Asia — bamboo can be grown locally.
The pandas had been one of the biggest draws at the Calgary Zoo, but the decision was not one about business, Lanthier said.
No date has been set for when the pandas are to return to China, but Lanthier said he hopes that it could be accomplished within the next couple of weeks.
He added that he does not want the Canadian and Chinese governments to delay things, and that he expects to get an export permit next week.
“I hope they move swiftly. We need to move them to a place where bamboo is abundant,” Lanthier said.
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