Calgarians to get their first peek at pandas on May 7
The countdown is officially on to meet the Calgary Zoo’s newest residents, with the facility announcing Monday that the Panda Passage exhibit will open on May 7.
“We are very excited about this, and we are for sure expecting big crowds,” said Dr. Clement Lanthier, president and CEO of the Calgary Zoo.
The exhibit is expected to help attract 1.5 million visitors to the zoo in its first year, while contributing $18 million to the local economy and creating 200 construction jobs and 40 new zoo-related positions.
“It has tremendous impact on our local economy and it helps drive … conservation,” said Gian-Carlo Carra, Ward 9 councillor.
The buzz around the pandas creates an opportunity for the zoo to focus on other less charismatic species that are endangered.
“We throw words like, ‘world class’ around, and the reality is that the Calgary Zoo is a world class institution,” said Carra, adding that it’s one of the top 10 zoological research facilities in the world.
Kim Rishel, project manager of the facility, has been working on converting the former Euro-Asia Gateway to the Panda Passage over the last three years.
WATER FEATURES
“It’s nothing less than an immersion into their world,” she said, noting the new facility will include lush indoor vegetation, a natural floor, heated rock work and water features.
Additionally, the Panda Passage is applying for Petal certification under the Living Building Challenge, which is described as the most intense living building verification systems in the world. Certification requires challengers to build environments that rely solely on renewable forms of energy, while reducing waste and emissions. If given the certification in the fall, the passage would be the first building in Alberta to achieve it.
Meanwhile, the four pandas — Er Shun, Da Mao and the cubs Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue — are being quarantined for 30 days in the back of the indoor facility.
The father, Da Mao, is, “very food motivated and oriented; he loves his bamboo,” said Lanthier, adding the mother and cubs are busy adapting to their new space.
“They’ve already stolen our hearts,” said Ricardo Miranda, minister of culture and tourism. In 2016, the Alberta government announced $10 million in funding for Panda Passage. The city contributed $8.15 million.
The two adult pandas will spend five years at the Calgary Zoo, while the cubs will be here about 18 months before travelling back to China to join a panda-breeding program.