Pandas go back home from Calgary Zoo

The two giant pandas that had been on loan to the Calgary Zoo have safely touched down at home in China.

The cargo flight carrying the pair, named Er Shun and Da Mao, touched down in Chengdu, China, around 3 a.m. Sunday morning local time after a brief layover in Frankfurt, Germany.

The duo arrived in Calgary in May 2018, and the zoo had planned for them to stay in Calgary for five years, but the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in those plans.

A decrease in international air travel made it difficult for the zoo to obtain enough fresh bamboo to keep the pandas well-fed and necessitated the early return home.

The pair are now headed to a zoo in Chongqing, a Chinese metropolis about a five-hour drive from Chengdu.