TORONTO (Reuters)-Canada has an international flavour Panda diplomacy Monday with the arrival of two "very important Pandas" at the start of a 10-year loan of two Canadian zoos.
Speaking as the two giant Pandas arrived in Toronto from China, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Junsai-that animals were given the designation of VIP-noted that when he started his speech in Canada two years ago, was greeted only by Canada of the Protocol.
But the pair of pandas, Er Shun, and Mao, 5 4, earned a personal welcome by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has reached an agreement for the loan of pandas during a visit to China last year.
"I am delighted to officially welcome you to Canada ... a couple of China's national treasures," Harper said at the airport.
Officials hope that Er Shun, who is female, and by Mao, who is male, will partner during five years in Toronto and the next five years in Calgary, Alberta, to produce the first Canadian panda Cubs.
"China wants to be known for other than economic skills," Gordon Houlden, Director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, told CTV television. "This helps serve that purpose."
China has often lent pandas to foreign zoos, in offerings that can be profitable for both parties. Fees paid by host countries Fund help panda research in China, but zoos hope to recover that extra visitors.
Other costs include large quantities of bamboo that you eat the two Panda-pass from 10 to 16 hours a day eating 20 to 14 kg (31-44 lbs) of bamboo.
FedEx Corp., which flew the pandas in Canada from China, will fly in 600 to 900 kilograms (1,320 to 1,980 pounds) of bamboo each week by the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee because "Pandas are picky eaters," he said.
(Written by Randall Palmer; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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