Finnish zoo returning pandas to China eight years early, calling them 'too costly to keep'

A zoo in Finland has decided to return two giant pandas to China eight years ahead of schedule, citing financial difficulties and a decline in visitor numbers, according to the Associated Press .

Ähtäri Zoo , located 330 kilometres north of Helsinki, announced on Wednesday that the pandas , Lumi and Pyry, will be returned “prematurely” later this year. The pandas were loaned to Finland in 2018 as part of a 15-year agreement to mark the country’s hundredth independence, but the zoo says it can no longer afford to keep them due to financial pressures.

“The upkeep of Lumi and Pyry, including a preservation fee to China, became too much for the zoo to handle,” the zoo said. The pandas’ diet also added to the expense, which mainly consisted of bamboo flown in from the Netherlands.

The decision comes after the zoo faced multiple challenges, including a sharp drop in visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and the impact of Russia-Ukraine conflict. The zoo built a special panda enclosure costing €8 million in hopes of attracting more tourists, but maintaining the pandas has proven too expensive, with costs amounting to €1.5 million annually.

Despite efforts by the Chinese Embassy in Helsinki to assist the zoo, financial difficulties remained a consistent issue. The pandas will enter quarantine in October before their return to China.

Finland was the first Nordic country to receive pandas from China, a gesture of goodwill marking diplomatic ties between the two nations, which were established in 1950.