Panda pact at risk if Toronto sells zoo, says councillor

Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammolitinamed twofuzzy reasons that the city-owned zoo should not fall into private handsnamely, that the change would jeopardizethe panda pactthat would see China lend a pair of its prized giant pandas to the Toronto and Calgary zoos.

"We will lose the pandas if we even try to sell the zoo," argued Mammoliti.

Such resistance paid off Thursday, as council decided 30-2 to cancel the request for expressions of interest. Councillor Paul Ainslie, vice-chairman of the zoo board, was also against a potential deal and motioned to call off potential buyers.

Thezoo board has been working to develop anot-for-profit model for several months.

Mayor Rob Ford, however, had been more open to putting the zoo on the market.

"I think we should keep all our doors open. Look at what we can get," he said in the lead-up to the vote.