A zoo in Finland has reached an agreement with Chinese authorities to return two giant pandas ahead of schedule due to financial strains exacerbated by declining visitor numbers. The Ähtäri Zoo, located 330 kilometers north of Helsinki, announced on its Facebook page that the female panda Lumi, meaning “snow” in Finnish, and the male panda Pyry, meaning “snowfall,” will be sent back to China later this year, more than eight years before the loan agreement was set to expire.
Originally, the panda pair was a gift from China to commemorate Finland’s 100th year of independence in 2017, with an agreement for them to stay in Finland until 2033. However, the zoo has faced multiple challenges, including a significant drop in visitors primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, rising inflation, and increasing interest rates. These factors have made it financially unsustainable for the zoo to continue caring for the pandas.
The loan agreement was finalized in April 2017 during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Finland, where he met with Finland’s then-President Sauli Niinistö. The pandas arrived in Finland in January 2018, settling into a specially constructed annex that cost the zoo around 8 million euros, with the aim of attracting more tourists to the region renowned for its northern European wildlife like bears, lynxes, and wolverines.
Maintaining Lumi and Pyry has proven costly, amounting to approximately 1.5 million euros annually. Part of this cost includes the expense of importing bamboo from the Netherlands to cater to their dietary needs. The Chinese Embassy in Helsinki acknowledged that Beijing tried to mitigate the zoo’s financial troubles by encouraging Chinese companies in Finland to make donations and supporting the zoo’s debt restructuring efforts.
Despite these efforts, the combination of dwindling visitor numbers and an adverse economic climate created an insurmountable financial burden for the zoo. Consequently, the pandas will undergo a monthlong quarantine starting in late October before their return to China.
Finland, with a population of 5.6 million, was among the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1950. The arrival of the pandas was a symbol of goodwill and strengthened political ties, making Finland the first Nordic country to receive such a gesture from China.
