Finland returns pandas to China because it can't keep them

Risto Sivonen, president of the private Ahtari Zoo in central Finland, told Reuters on September 24 that the pandas Lumi and Pyry were brought to the country in January 2018, a few months after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Nordic country and signed a joint agreement on panda protection.

Finland returns pandas to China because it can't keep them

Under the agreement, Finland planned to keep the pandas for 15 years. However, caring for the pandas proved too costly and the zoo was forced to send them back to China. Lumi and Pyry will undergo a month-long quarantine before returning to China.

Panda couple Lumi and Pyry play at Ahtari Zoo (Finland) in February 2018

According to Mr. Risto Sivonen, the zoo has invested 8.92 million USD to build a habitat for the pandas and spends 1.67 million USD annually to take care of them, including conservation fees sent to China.

The zoo hopes the pandas will attract visitors to its central Finland location, but the facility has been saddled with mounting debt over the past year due to travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, and rising inflation has added to the costs of caring for the pandas.

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Ahtari Zoo has appealed for state funding in 2023, but the Finnish government has refused. Mr Sivonen said the negotiations to return the pandas have lasted three years. Now China has agreed to repatriate Lumi and Pyry.

A spokesman for the Finnish Foreign Ministry said the return of the panda was a business decision by the zoo, had nothing to do with the Finnish government and did not affect relations between the two countries.

The Chinese embassy in Finland said Beijing had made efforts to support the zoo, but the two sides ultimately decided to return the panda after "friendly discussions".

China has been engaging in "panda diplomacy" since 1972 to strengthen trade ties, consolidate foreign relations and enhance its international image.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phan-lan-tra-gau-truc-cho-trung-quoc-vi-khong-nuoi-noi-185240925115400963.htm