Finland zoo returns giant pandas to China over cost

HELSINKI – Finland will return two giant pandas to China in November, more than eight years ahead of time, as the zoo where they live can no longer afford their upkeep, the chairman of the zoo’s board told Reuters on Sept 24.

The pandas, named Lumi and Pyry, were brought to Finland in January 2018, months after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Nordic country and signed a joint agreement on protecting the animals.

Since its founding in 1949, China has sent pandas to foreign zoos to strengthen trading ties, cement foreign relations and boost its international image.

The Finnish agreement was for a stay of 15 years, but instead the pandas will soon go into a month-long quarantine before they are shipped back to China, according to Ahtari Zoo, the pandas’ current home.

The zoo, a private company, had invested more than €8 million (S$11.5 million) in the facility where the animals live and faced annual costs of €1.5 million for their upkeep, including a preservation fee paid to China, Ahtari chairman Risto Sivonen said.

The zoo had hoped the pandas would attract visitors to the central Finland location but in 2023 said it had instead accumulated mounting debts as the Covid-19 pandemic curbed travel and that it was discussing a return.

Rising inflation had added to the costs, the zoo said, and Finland’s government in 2023 rejected pleas for state funding.

In all, negotiations to return the animals had lasted three years, Mr Sivonen said. “Now we reached a point where the Chinese said it could be done,” he said.

The return of the pandas was a business decision made by the zoo, which did not involve Finland’s government and should not impact relations between the two countries, a spokesperson for Finland’s Foreign Ministry said.

Despite efforts by China to aid the zoo, the two countries in the end jointly concluded after friendly consultations to return the pandas, the Chinese Embassy in Helsinki said in a statement to Reuters. REUTERS