Finnish agronomists are successfully farming bamboo in freezing temperatures for two Chinese giant panda’s living in the Ahtari Zoo. After eight years of trial and error the Finnish bamboo production still only makes up a fraction of the food supply for the giant pandas, but it also works as an emergency supply in case the import of bamboo is being hindered.
The temperatures in Finland can plummet to bellow 30 degrees celsius in winter months, and the freezing temperatures are very far from the plant’s natural growing conditions.
The agricultural adviser Jari Luokkakallio has become an expert in the field and believes the pandas prefer the fresh bamboo he provides. The bamboo cultivation project was launched in 2016 and 50 farmers joined to take on the challenge. The farmers have had to adopt techniques such as using snow as a natural insulator for the plants to ensure a right amount of moisture.
The pandas came to Finland from China in 2018 and it was the first time pandas came to live in the cold climate of Northern Europe. The Finnish public loved the bamboo-eating black and white bears and they received the nicknames “Pyry” and “Lumi”, meaning heavy snowfall and snow in Finnish. Their original names are Hua Bao and Jin Baobao.
Source: bignewsnetwork.com
