A European zoo, dealing with financial difficulties, has announced plans to send its Chinese pandas back to China. Learn more about the challenges zoos face during economic hardships.

A Finnish zoo is set to return two giant pandas to China due to financial constraints, as reported by the broadcaster Yle.

The pandas, Lumi and Pyry, were brought to Ahtari Zoo, Finland’s second-largest privately owned zoo, in January 2018, following a joint agreement on animal protection signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Finland nine months earlier.

However, the zoo has encountered significant financial challenges in recent years, leading management to announce on Monday their intention to repatriate the pandas to China earlier than planned later this year.

The decision was attributed to several factors, including increasing debts incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, a decline in tourism, rising inflation, and escalating interest rates linked to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, according to the report.

Under a 15-year lease agreement, the zoo is obligated to pay China approximately €1 million ($1.1 million) annually, designated for species conservation. Additionally, the zoo bears the costs associated with the pandas’ care.

Last year, facing financial difficulties, the zoo sought a €5 million ($5.5 million) grant from the Finnish government, but the request was denied.

The giant panda is classified as vulnerable to extinction. For many years, China has utilized these animals as a diplomatic tool and for wildlife conservation efforts. Earlier this year, China renewed its ‘panda diplomacy’ with the United States, marking the first such initiative in over twenty years.

The practice of gifting pandas began in 1972 when Chinese leader Mao Zedong sent two pandas to then-US President Richard Nixon, following Nixon’s landmark visit to China, which established the foundation for diplomatic relations. Since 1984, China has transitioned from gifting pandas to leasing them.