Ahtari Zoo, Finland’s second-largest privately owned zoo, is returning two giant pandas, Lumi and Pyry, to China due to financial constraints.
The pandas arrived in Finland in January 2018, nine months after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the country and signed an agreement on panda protection.
However, the zoo has faced financial difficulties in recent years, leading to the decision to send the pandas back to China ahead of schedule.
The zoo attributes this decision to mounting debts incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, a decline in tourism, soaring inflation, and rising interest rates stemming from the Ukraine conflict.
Under a 15-year lease agreement, the zoo pays an annual fee of €1 million ($1.1 million) to China for species protection and is also responsible for the pandas’ upkeep.
Last year, the zoo requested a €5 million ($5.5 million) grant from the Finnish government, but the application was denied.
The giant panda is classified as vulnerable to extinction. China has long utilized panda diplomacy, gifting the animals to countries for both diplomatic and conservation purposes. Earlier this year, China resumed its ‘panda diplomacy’ with the US for the first time in over two decades.
In 1972, following President Nixon’s visit to China, Chinese leader Mao Zedong gifted two pandas to the US. Since 1984, China has transitioned from gifting to leasing pandas.