A Finnish zoo is returning two Giant Pandas to China eight years early because it can no longer afford to care for them. Lumi and Pyry arrived in Finland in 2018 after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the country and signed a joint commitment to protect the animals. China has been sending pandas to foreign zoos since 1949 in a bid to strengthen relations and improve its global image.
Finnish authorities agreed to keep Lumi and Pyry for 15 years, but they will now enter a month-long quarantine before being shipped home. Ahtari Zoo, a private facility, invested just under nine million dollars in the panda facility, with an extra annual cost of $1.6 million annually.
Ahtari Chair Risto Sivonen said the zoo had hoped the pandas would attract visitors, but it has found itself accumulating mountains of debt, which worsened during the COVID pandemic. Rising inflation also increased costs, prompting the company to appeal for government help. Public funding was refused, however, so the zoo opened negotiations with Chinese officials. These carried on for three years until the parties reached a deal.
Zoo curator Mahrko Haekosky said caring for the two giant pandas cost more than all the other species combined. Expenses included imported bamboo and the requirement that a zookeeper stay with the animals at all times. A Finnish foreign ministry spokesperson said the decision to return the pandas was a private business matter and did not involve the government.
There are currently around 600 pandas living in zoos and breeding centers around the world. Scientists say the number in the wild has dropped to just under 2,000, qualifying them for “threatened” status. Giant pandas live in the mountains of South West China at altitudes between 1,500 and 3,400 meters. Human activity is their greatest threat and has pushed them to higher ground. Carers say they prefer to live on bamboo but will happily eat grass and the occasional insect or rodent. The Chinese icon weighs between 100 and 150 kg, measures 70 to 80 cm tall, and consumes 38 kilograms of bamboo daily.
