Canada pandas to get fresh bamboo flown from China

Pandas at a Canadian zoo can now enjoy fresh bamboo straight from China for the first time thanks to a non-stop route from Beijing to Calgary.

For the next five years, Hainan Airlines (HNA) will fly in fresh bamboo from Sichuan Province to feed the family of four pandas currently living at the Calgary Zoo, park officials said Tuesday.

Since giant pandas consume an average 40 kilograms of bamboo a day, bamboo supplies in North America are not enough, according to Calgary Zoo employees.

Transport takes around 48 hours from harvesting to delivery, the zoo said.

The bamboo will be first collected from the bears’ native habitat of Sichuan Province and shipped to Beijing International Airport. It will then be shipped on HNA’s Beijing-Calgary route that has been in service since June 2016.

HNA is honored to provide delivery services and support animal protection, said Wang Xinyuan, manager of HNA’s Calgary office.

“The delivery service is good since giant pandas prefer Chinese food,” said Lu Xu, consulate-general of the People’s Republic of China in Calgary.

The pandas have just begun their five-year stay in Calgary.

Previously, parents Da Mao and Er Shun lived in Toronto since 2013. There, Er Shun gave birth to twins Jia Yueyue and Jia Panpan in 2015.