Today’s the big day for the Calgary Zoo’s giant pandas.
After months of trying to secure international travel permits, Er Shun and Da Mao are finally heading home to China.
In May, the Zoo announced it would be sending the pair back four years early because the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted bamboo supply lines.
Each adult giant panda consumes about 40 kilograms of bamboo every day.
It was being sourced from British Columbia but by August the supply was nearly depleted .
Changes to China’s import laws and quarantine facilities made the process of acquiring travel permits more difficult but Zoo officials say after a lot of hard work, all the papers are in order and the giant pandas will be leaving today (Nov. 27).
