HELSINKI: Finland will return two large pandas to China in November, greater than eight years forward of time, because the zoo the place they reside can now not afford their maintenance, the chair of the zoo’s board instructed Reuters on Tuesday (Sep 24).
The pandas, named Lumi and Pyry, had been dropped at Finland in January 2018, months after Chinese language President Xi Jinping visited the Nordic nation and signed a joint settlement on defending the animals.
Since its founding in 1949, the Individuals’s Republic of China has despatched pandas to overseas zoos to strengthen trading ties, cement foreign relations and boost its international image.
The Finnish settlement was for a keep of 15 years, however as a substitute the pandas will quickly go right into a month-long quarantine earlier than they’re shipped again to China, based on Ahtari Zoo, the pandas’ present house.
The zoo, a personal firm, had invested over 8 million euros (US$8.92 million) within the facility the place the animals reside and confronted annual prices of 1.5 million euros for his or her maintenance, together with a preservation payment paid to China, Ahtari Chair Risto Sivonen stated.
The zoo had hoped the pandas would entice guests to the central Finland location however final yr stated it had as a substitute amassed mounting money owed because the pandemic curbed journey, and that it was discussing a return.
Rising inflation had added to the prices, the zoo stated, and Finland’s authorities in 2023 rejected pleas for state funding.
In all, negotiations to return the animals had lasted three years, Sivonen stated.
“Now we reached some extent the place the Chinese language stated it could possibly be accomplished,” Sivonen stated.
The return of the pandas was a enterprise resolution made by the zoo which didn’t contain Finland’s authorities and mustn’t affect relations between the 2 nations, a spokesperson for Finland’s overseas ministry stated.
The Chinese language embassy in Helsinki didn’t reply to a request for remark.
