19 Mar 2014

Giant Panda



Location: Toronto Zoo
Date photo taken: 9 March 2014

There are lots of new things to see at the Toronto Zoo right now. There's a baby giraffe, a baby gorilla and of course Humphrey, the adorable polar bear cub. There is also Er Shun and Da Mao, two giant pandas on loan from China. Pandas are endangered and with less than 1600 animals currently living in the wild the study of captive pandas is considered crucial to ensuring their continued long term survival. Lots of different aspects of panda behaviour and care will be studied during their visit including nutrition and reproduction. The Toronto Zoo also prides itself on its behavioural enrichment programs - finding ways to positively stimulate captive animals and encourage behaviours which closely match wild ones - and they will be designing and conducting studies on enrichment activities for pandas. Er Shun and Da Mao will be in Toronto until 2018 when they will move west for a stay at the Calgary Zoo.

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