Calgary Zoo in Canada announced on Tuesday that a pair of loaned Chinese pandas would be returned ahead of schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fans could bid farewell to Da Mao and Er Shun by watching a livestream on the zoo's website, it said.

The pandemic has hit the transportation sector hard in the past two months. The sharp decline in international flights has posed a challenge to the transportation of fresh bamboo, and the quality of bamboo cannot be ensured, it said.

The park said it has made great efforts to overcome the problem, but there is still the risk of a second wave of the outbreak there, and getting fresh bamboo supplies continues to be a challenge.

Zoo President and CEO Clement Lanthier said the zoo had to make a very difficult decision because the safest place for pandas is where there is an ample supply of bamboo that they can get to easily.

In March 2013, Da Mao, then a 4-year-old male from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province, and Er Shun, a 5-year-old female from Chongqing Zoo, left China for Canada. They were scheduled to stay for 10 years under a conservation agreement between the two countries.

两人先是在多伦多动物园呆了5年，然后又搬到卡尔加里动物园住了5年。

成都大熊猫基地负责人张志和说，这一安排使两家动物园都能为国际社会增加濒危大熊猫数量做出贡献。

二顺于2015年10月在多伦多动物园人工授精并生下一对幼崽。这两只幼崽名叫贾潘潘和贾跃跃，它们的名字意味着加拿大的希望和加拿大的欢乐，是第一对在加拿大出生的幼崽。2018年3月，他们和父母搬到卡尔加里动物园，带来创纪录的游客数量。

2019年4月，二顺再次在卡尔加里动物园接受人工授精，但她未能怀孕。今年1月，贾潘潘和贾跃跃回到成都熊猫基地，这是中加双方达成的协议。

大毛和二顺提前回国的消息令许多中国人感到意外。

中国四川大熊猫保护研究中心都江堰基地的官员王伦说，令人惊讶的是，这些大熊猫会被提前送回，因为许多其他国家都在努力借来大熊猫。

“两年前，有消息称，从都江堰基地租借到马来西亚的两只大熊猫，由于饲养成本高昂，将提前归还。但结果不是真的。”。

2014年5月，都江堰基地的两只大熊猫被空运到马来西亚，为期10年。