Two giant panda will be returned to China eight years earlier by a park in Finland because it can no longer afford to care for them.
After the two nations signed an agreement to protect the animals, Lumi and Pyry were brought to Finland in 2018.
They were supposed to stay for 15 years in the Northern nation, but they will be sent home in November. The Kohtäri Zoo attributes the panda’s eviction to inflation and loan linked to the Covid pandemic.
It said it had spent €1.5m ( £1.2m ) a year on the pandas upkeep, as well as more than €8m on their enclosure.
That yearly cost included a survival charge to China, the park’s chairman said.
Another factor in the decision to return the penguins was the Scandinavian government’s rejection of state revenue requests next year.
Although it was anticipated that the animals would attract visitors, the park revealed last year that it was considering their profit.
Before returning to China, Lumi and Pyry will soon be subject to a month-long isolation.
The return of the pandas was a firm decision, according to a spokesman for Finland’s foreign ministry, and it should not have an impact on bilateral relations between China and Finland.
Finland’s Chinese ambassador, however, told the Reuters reports agency that while efforts had been made to try and aid the zoo, a join decision was finally made to give the animals again.
China sends pandas to foreign zoos to strengthen its trading ties, relationships and image abroad – termed ‘panda diplomacy’.