A Finnish zoo will return two giant pandas to China in November, more than 8 years ahead of the scheduled time, as the zoo can no longer afford the high cost of caring for the pandas.
The Ahtari Zoo, where the giant pandas have been housed, stated that negotiations with China regarding the return of the pandas have been ongoing for 3 years. Now, both parties have reached an agreement on this matter.
Initially, the two pandas named Lumi and Pyry (Chinese names “Jīn Bǎobǎo” and “Huá Bào”) were planned to stay in Finland for 15 years.
Before being transported back to China, the two pandas are undergoing a month-long quarantine.
According to Risto Sivonen, the director of the Ahtari Zoo, the zoo, which is a private company, invested over 8 million euros (approximately 8.92 million US dollars) in the living environment for the pandas and faced an annual maintenance cost of 1.5 million euros (approximately 1.67 million US dollars), including payments for conservation agreements with China.
In April 2017, shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Nordic countries and signed a joint agreement on animal conservation, the two pandas were sent to Finland in January 2018.
The Ahtari Zoo had hoped the pandas would attract visitors to central Finland, but last year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism causing a sharp decline in visitor numbers, the zoo faced serious financial difficulties.
In addition to the pandemic’s impact, the zoo stated that rising inflation had increased maintenance costs. In 2023, the Finnish government rejected the zoo’s request for national funding, leading the zoo to expedite the plan to return the pandas.
A spokesperson for the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the return of the pandas was a commercial decision by the zoo and should not affect the relationship between the two countries.
“Panda diplomacy” began in the 1950s, with China using the adorable giant pandas as a diplomatic tool, leasing them to other countries as a gesture of friendship. Officially recognized by the Chinese government, since the 1990s, China has engaged in panda diplomacy with 20 countries.