Visit the Giant Pandas at the Calgary Zoo

This May, Calgary is welcoming a Giant Panda family to the Calgary Zoo! Two adult pandas – Er Shun and Da Mao; as well as two panda cubs – Jia Panpan (Canadian Hope) and Jia Yueyue (Canadian Joy).

During their time in Calgary, the giant pandas will stay at Panda Passage, an exclusive, newly constructed habitat that has taken over the old elephant enclosure. The new habitat includes water features, hot and cool rocks, elevation, lush greenery and indoor, humid, quiet spaces.

The two adult giant pandas are on loan from China for a ten year period as part of a breeding program. They have now finished their first five years at the Toronto Zoo where they had their first two cubs. They will spend the next five years here in Calgary, while in a year the panda cubs will head back to China to begin anew.

The Pandas have been settling in for the past month and are enjoying their new home. Each panda eats about 40 kilograms of bamboo per day, this means that a couple times a week bamboo is flown in from China on a commercial flight. There are nine varieties of bamboo for the pandas to choose from, each panda usually has its own specific taste. Bamboo is 90% of their diet, so bringing in the correct food is a big part of the panda care.

Calgary’s Panda Passage at the Calgary Zoo opens to the general public on May 7, 2018.

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