'It Costs Too Much'... Finnish Zoo Returns Panda Early

Returned 8 Years Earlier Than Scheduled
Finnish Foreign Ministry: "Should Not Affect Bilateral Relations"

A zoo in Finland has decided to return a pair of pandas leased from China before the end of the rental period due to the inability to bear the enormous maintenance costs.

Giant panda eating bamboo at a Finnish zoo
Photo by Yonhap News

According to Reuters and the UK Guardian on the 25th (local time), the private Finnish zoo Atari Zoo announced the day before that it plans to send back the two giant pandas currently being raised to China in November. The rental period for the pandas Rumi and Pyry, who came to Finland in January 2018, was 15 years, but the zoo decided to return them to China 8 years early due to rising prices and maintenance cost burdens.

Risto Sibonen, chairman of Atari Zoo, stated that they invested more than 8 million euros (11.9 billion KRW) to build facilities for the pandas and have spent 1.5 million euros (2.2 billion KRW) annually on maintenance costs, including the rental fee paid to China. The zoo expected the pandas to attract visitors, but due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a decrease in visitors to the zoo, only debt increased.

As maintenance costs rose further due to inflation, the zoo requested financial support from the Finnish government, but it was not accepted. It is reported that the zoo has been discussing the return of the pandas with China over the past three years.

Rumi and Pyry came to Finland as part of "panda diplomacy," where China sends pandas as gifts or loans to countries with friendly relations. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Finland in 2017 and signed a joint agreement on animal protection, and the two pandas were leased to Finland in January the following year.

A spokesperson for the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The panda return is a business decision made by the zoo," adding, "The government was not involved, and this decision should not affect the relationship between the two countries."

The Chinese Embassy in Finland also stated, "Despite China's efforts to support the zoo, both countries agreed amicably to return the pandas."

Since 1972, when then-US President Richard Nixon visited China, China has engaged in "panda diplomacy," lending pandas to countries worldwide. It is known that China charges an annual rental fee of about 1 million dollars (approximately 1.3 billion KRW) per pair of pandas.