Giant pandas are big fans of cool, wet, and snowy places. So, a country like Canada seems like a nice place for giant pandas to live in, right?
However, you might want to know if there are giant pandas in Canada.
Quick Answer – NO. There are no giant pandas in Canada. In the past, Canada had pandas but had challenges feeding them.
They had to return them to China and since then they haven’t gotten any pandas again.
Do you still want to get a detailed explanation of why pandas can’t be found in Canada?
Continue reading below!
Why Giant Pandas Are Not In Canada?
Giant pandas are not in Canada because the country hasn’t made any new agreement to get them. So, you should know that the country is capable of having giant pandas.
Canada is a developed country and can have pandas in their zoos. Interestingly, there were giant pandas in Canada before. They were Er Shun and Da Mao.
They got them through panda diplomacy from China in 2014. The pandas even produced twin cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, in Canada.
They first lived in the Toronto zoo as soon as they came to Canada. Later on, they moved to Calvary Zoo in March 2018.
However, during the pandemic, the zoo had trouble feeding the pandas. The COVID-19 restriction on transportation disturbed the supply of bamboo to the zoo.
The only option the zoo had was to send the giant pandas back to China. They had to do this regardless of the remaining years left for the pandas to stay in Canada.
The bamboo shortage is bad for giant pandas. It’s their main food and they need enough of it to survive.
This is one of the reasons why giant pandas must be returned to China.
RECOMMENDED READING: Why Do Giant Pandas Have to Be Returned to China?
Where Can I Find The Pandas Then?
If you’re looking for a Zoo near Canada where you can see pandas, check out these locations below:
- Smithsonian Zoological Park, Washington, DC (US)
- Memphis Zoo, Memphis, Tennessee (US)
- Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia (US)
- Chapultepec Zoo, Mexico City (Mexico)
Final Thoughts
In summary, there are no giant pandas in Canada. The country has not made any loan agreement with China concerning them.
However, they had giant pandas before but returned them to China because of bamboo scarcity. Since the pandas returned, Canada hasn’t gotten any more pandas again.
You can check our full article – What Zoos Have Giant Pandas? – to know other places around the world to find a giant panda.
