Da Mao

{{Short description|Male giant panda (born 2008)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}

{{infobox animal

|image=A_black_and_white_ball_of_fur_(14409103416).jpg

|image_caption=Da Mao in 2014

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|2008|09|01|mf=yes}}

|birth_place = Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

|species = Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

|gender = Male

|residence = {{ubl|Toronto Zoo (2013-2018)|Calgary Zoo (2018-2020)}}

}}

Da Mao (born September 1, 2008) is a giant panda that was born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/09/01/toronto-panda-da-mao-celebrates-birthday.html |title=Toronto panda Da Mao celebrates birthday|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=September 1, 2015|accessdate=April 16, 2016}} He was born to Mao Mao (female) and Yuhin/Xiongbang (male). The name Da Mao means "first of Mao" as he was his mother's first born.

Da Mao was brought to Canada in 2013 as part of a 10-year contract between the federal governments of Canada and China. He and his female counterpart Er Shun were supposed to spend five years each at Toronto Zoo and Calgary Zoo respectively. In May 2020, the Calgary Zoo requested that both pandas be returned to China due to the difficulty of importing bamboo during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/giant-pandas-calgary-zoo-1.5566027|title=Calgary Zoo to ship giant pandas back to China early due to bamboo supply problems|newspaper=CBC|date=May 12, 2020|accessdate=May 13, 2020}}

While in Toronto, Da Mao was the subject of multiple viral videos featuring him playing in the snow. The most popular featured his playful destruction of a snowman made for him by his keepers for behavioral enrichment.{{cite news |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIAO4Htzn8M |title= Toronto Zoo Giant Panda vs. Snowman {{!}} Youtube}}