Finland will return two giant pandas, Lumi and Pyry, to China in November, eight years earlier than planned, due to financial difficulties faced by the zoo hosting them.
Ahtari Zoo, a private facility in central Finland, has struggled to cover the high costs of the pandas’ upkeep, the chair of the zoo’s board, Risto Sivonen, told Reuters on Tuesday.
The pandas arrived in Finland in January 2018 as part of a 15-year conservation agreement signed after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the country. However, financial strain, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation, forced the zoo to negotiate an early return after accumulating significant debt.
Zoo faces financial pressure
Ahtari Zoo had invested over €8 million ($8.92 million) in building a specialized facility for the pandas and faced annual costs of €1.5 million for their care, including preservation fees paid to China. The zoo had hoped the pandas would boost visitor numbers, but the pandemic severely limited travel, worsening the zoo’s financial situation.
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In 2023, Finland’s government declined to provide state funding, further deepening the zoo’s financial woes. After three years of negotiations, the decision to return the pandas was finalised, with China agreeing to the early termination of the agreement.
“Now we reached a point where the Chinese said it could be done,” Sivonen stated, explaining that the pandas will enter a month-long quarantine before being returned to China.
No impact on Finland-China relations
The return of the pandas is a business decision made solely by the zoo and will not affect diplomatic relations between Finland and China, according to a spokesperson from Finland’s foreign ministry. The Chinese embassy in Helsinki also highlighted the friendly nature of the decision, stating that after mutual consultation, both sides agreed to the pandas’ return.
Despite efforts by China to support the zoo, the financial strain proved insurmountable, marking the early end of the pandas’ stay in Finland.
