The Calgary Zoo is shipping two giant pandas back to China years ahead of schedule due to difficulty obtaining bamboo amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 由于疫情期间难以获得新鲜竹子，卡尔加里动物园将把两只大熊猫送回中国，这比预期归还时间提前了几年。
Zoo staff have struggled to import enough bamboo to feed giant pandas Er Shun and Da Mao — who are on loan to Canada from China until 2023 — due to flights being disrupted by the pandemic. 因为航班受疫情影响严重，为了进口足够量的竹子喂饱二顺和大毛，动物园工作人员可谓焦头烂额。这两只大熊猫是加拿大从中国租借的，租期到2023年。
大毛
The challenges have resulted in substandard bamboo and smaller quantities already, Lanthier said.
"The pandas are eating almost exclusively bamboo. I need fresh bamboo being delivered twice a week."
Fresh bamboo makes up nearly the entire diet of a panda. An adult panda can eat roughly 40 kilograms a day.
At times, the pandas refused to eat bamboo from new sources or bamboo that's aged in transit.
Lanthier said his team tried to find alternate bamboo suppliers. They encountered missed flights, bamboo sent to the wrong cities, bamboo left sitting in warehouses or at an airport, and trucking issues.
"This is too much stress on my team and on the pandas. Can you imagine not having bamboo for a few days?" zoo president and CEO Clément Lanthier told CBC News Tuesday.
“我们的团队和熊猫们都承受了很大压力，你能想象几天吃不到竹子的情况吗？”动物园园长克莱门特·兰希尔12日接受CBC采访时称。
"We have exhausted all of our capacity, and it's too much of a risk for the welfare of the panda," Lanthier said. “我们已经竭尽全力了，这对熊猫的健康安全来说风险太大。”
The zoo said it expects the supply of the panda's main food could be further disrupted by transportation struggles on very short notice…
The zoo started the permit process to move the pandas a few weeks ago, Lanthier said, in hopes of having those approved this week.
The giant pandas were expected to stay in Canada for 10 years through an agreement with China. They arrived in 2014 to spend five years in Toronto. They had two cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, and moved to Calgary in 2018.
如今要提前送大毛和二顺回国，加拿大动物园的工作人员都很伤心，但表示熊猫的健康是最重要的。
Lanthier said he and the staff are sad about the decision, but stressed what's important is the animals' welfare.
听到两只“滚滚”要回家的消息，网友们纷纷变身老母亲“喊话”：欢迎回家！竹子管够！
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