The Calgary Zoo is being forced to send their two giant pandas back to China because they can’t get enough bamboo to feed them..“We believe the best and safest place for Er Shun and Da Mao to be during these challenging and unprecedented times is where bamboo is abundant and easy to access,” said Calgary Zoo President & CEO Dr. Clément Lanthier in a statement Tuesday..“This was an incredibly difficult decision to make but the health and well-being of the animals we love and care for always comes first.”.The pandas’ diet is 99% made up of fresh bamboo and each adult giant panda consumes approximately 40 kg of bamboo daily..Lanthier said in the last two months, the Zoo has seen changes in transportation destroy the bamboo supply lines they have depended on since the giant pandas’ arrival in Calgary..“Direct flight cancellations between China and Calgary resulted in WestJet stepping up to move the bamboo from Toronto to Calgary, but fewer flights between China and Toronto as a result of the pandemic removed this option,” said the zoo’s statement.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .“I am continually amazed by the resourcefulness and dedication of our team,” said Lanthier..“Unfortunately, they are fighting against forces much greater than the Calgary Zoo. Even the Canadian government had to fly empty planes out of China.”.Er Shun and Da Mao arrived in Canada in 2014 as part of a 10-year agreement between Canada and China. After spending 5-years at the Toronto Zoo, the two adult giant pandas arrived at the Calgary Zoo in March 2018 with cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue..“Knowing a second wave of COVID-19 is likely, and the bamboo supply chain challenges will continue to negatively impact the zoo’s ability to bring bamboo to the giant pandas, the Calgary Zoo feels it’s critical to move the beloved giant pandas back to China where there are abundant local sources of bamboo as soon as possible,” said the zoo..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
