Looks like Calgary will be getting a couple of Panda bears for five years if this agreement goes through. Five years for Toronto Zoo and five for Calgary.
Brings back memories of the Panda fever this city had in '88. Who else remembers the Panda ice cream?
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02...china-mission/
Stephen Harper secures pandas for Toronto, Calgary during China mission
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Chinese leadership announced Thursday that Canada and China are finalizing details on an agreement that would see the Chinese loan two giant pandas to zoos in Calgary and Toronto for a period of five years each.
Harper will announce more details of a looming agreement on Saturday, when he visits a panda preservation centre in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing and gets up close and personal with the bamboo munchers.
But the two sides released a joint statement Thursday, following a bilateral meeting, explaining the panda swap is almost a go.
“Following agreement by Canada and China, the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens will sign an agreement with the Toronto and Calgary zoos to provide a pair of giant pandas for 10 years of collaborative research on conservation,” says the statement.
Government officials won’t disclose more details — including what order the zoos will have the bears and financial cost, if any — until Harper’s announcement on Saturday,