Two pandas hold much in their paws as they land in Toronto on Monday for a five-year stay at the city’s zoo.

The arrival of Da Mao and Er Shun marks a milestone in the city-owned Toronto Zoo’s long struggle to secure a panda bear loan.

And it comes as the zoo faces the loss of its three elephants — a key attraction and status symbol — to a sanctuary, amid pressure to boost admissions and wean itself from the city’s yearly cash infusions. On paper at least, snagging the pandas could go a long way to benefitting the zoo.

According to the zoo’s budget, the pair of panda bears is expected to draw an extra 300,000 visitors in 2013, for a total of 1.6 million. Extra admissions and sales are to offset nearly $8 million price tag of the panda exhibit and more than $3 million a year in expenses.

The budget projects memberships will go up 10 per cent this year. The zoo also plans for a $3 increase to admission fees to take effect in May, the month the pandas will go on public display after a 30-day quarantine.

“There’s no doubt that the admissions to the Toronto Zoo will be increased in huge numbers. So it’s going to help the Toronto Zoo financially,” said Councillor Raymond Cho, who sits on the zoo’s management board and was instrumental in securing the pandas, which come with a $1-million annual fee that goes to research and conservation in China.

But Cho said a financial boost was the last priority on a list of benefits the bears are expected to bring, after research and conservation opportunities, stronger China-Toronto ties and an added attraction for the Pan Am Games, among others.

Zoo officials said they were too busy to answer questions about admissions, revenues, the loan agreements or sponsorships until after the pandas’ arrival.

The zoo’s three aging elephants, Toka, Thika and Iringa, are set to be flown to the PAWS sanctuary in California before summer, following a long, bitter battle between zoo staff and city councillors over the fate of the aging females.

Cho called the pandas’ arrival “perfect timing.”

“I don’t think we’ll lose a lot in admissions, especially if the panda is coming,” said Cho (Ward 42, Scarborough-Rouge River).

The Toronto Zoo 2013 budget projects that the surge in visitors will dissipate over the pandas’ five-year stay, but surpluses from a busy first and second year could be used to offset costs in what will likely be a slower third and fourth year.

Pandas have long been a major crowd-pleaser.

In 1985, when the Toronto Zoo had two pandas on loan from China for the summer, more than 1 million people paid a visit and the zoo’s revenues almost doubled over the previous year. In 2011, attendance went up 200 per cent in the first couple of months after a pair of pandas arrived at Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo.

But that’s not the case everywhere. Zoo Atlanta got two pandas on loan from China in 1999 that drew larger-than-usual crowds for about a year, said Rebecca Snyder, curator of mammals. After that, admissions returned to normal levels, with rises after panda cubs were born.

“The program is pretty expensive all told, so the attendance you receive as a result of the pandas doesn’t pay for all of that,” said Snyder. “It’s certainly a draw for us, so that’s helpful. But the reason Atlanta wanted to get pandas wasn’t to make money off them, it was to do something for panda conservation.”

In Toronto, taxpayers subsidized the zoo to the tune of $11.1 million in 2012, and the same amount has been budgeted for 2013. Plans to sell the zoo were nixed last year, but council has made it clear it wants the zoo off its back financially.

Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, vice-chair of the zoo’s board of management, said pandas could bring money in, not just through ticket sales but with fundraisers and sponsorships.

“The more money we can raise, obviously the less dependent we are on city finances,” said Lindsay Luby.

Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker said the pandas will bring crowds and stature to the zoo, but the real benefit is the opportunity to educate the public about conservation.

“They’re adorable, they’re charming and they’re the cutest educators we’ve ever had,” said De Baeremaeker, adding that while pandas shouldn’t cost taxpayers, the zoo isn’t looking to make a profit.

He said he has “no fear” that zoo numbers would drop without the pandas’ arrival, citing the zoo’s 5,000 species.

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“I don’t think that getting the pandas is going to save the zoo or rescue our numbers,” he said. “It is a great opportunity so that after the pandas leave there will be a bump and we’ll keep that number, but it’s not a make or break proposition for the zoo.”

Calling all panda memories

Do you remember when pandas came to Toronto in 1985? Share your stories with the Star. Email jmcdiarmid@thestar.ca or write to Jessica McDiarmid, 5th Floor Editorial, 1 Yonge St., Toronto, Ont., M5E 1E6. Please be sure to include your full name and contact information.

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