Pandas for Canada?
Toronto Zoo, , Calgary Zoo & Granby Zoo, Canada
In December 2009, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti and Director Dr. William Rapley returned from a mission to China with a letter of intent that its sister zoo, Chongqing Zoological Gardens, will help Toronto Zoo (Toronto, Canada) get a pair of giant pandas. A commitment to supply Toronto with a pair of the endangered pandas for breeding and exhibit was made already in 2003. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has thrown his support behind the Toronto Zoo’s panda campaign. The political support is a crucial step in the panda bid. In June 2010, two other Candadian zoos, Calgary Zoo & Granby Zoo, announced that discussions have been underway for roughly six months about the possibility of acquiring pandas on loan from China. At this moment there is an agreement, but it still isn’t specified when the pandas will arrive in Canada.
