Panda delivery probably isn’t the first thing you’d think of when pondering what FedEx Express delivers, but you’d be wrong. Following months of careful preparation, the world’s largest express transportation company safely and successful delivered two giant pandas to Toronto Zoo from China. Er Shun and Da Mao, a breeding pair, arrived on a specially branded plane that was donated by FedEx for the sole purpose of relocating the two animals.
This is the third time FedEx have shipped pandas internationally from China in recent months. In January 2012 the company safely delivered Huan Huan and Yuan Zi to Charles de Gaulle international airport in France. The two giant pandas were on loan from China and were transported from the airport to Beauval ZooParc in specially decorated FedEx vans. Edinburgh Zoo saw their own panda express delivery in 2011, with a pair arriving safe and sound from China.
Specially branded FedEx trucks will remain in operation in Canada during the pandas’ five year stay in Toronto, delivering 600 to 900 kilograms of fresh bamboo supplies two-to-three times a week, courtesy of the Memphis Zoo. Once their five years are up, Er Shun and Da Mao will be moved to Calgary for a further five years before their unprecedented ten-year loan agreement with China comes to an end.