The Ähtäri Zoo in Finland has announced that it will be returning two giant pandas, Lumi and Pyry, to China ahead of schedule. The pandas were originally loaned to the zoo in 2017 as a gift from China to mark Finland's 100th anniversary of independence. However, the zoo has faced financial difficulties in recent years, including a decline in visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The upkeep of the pandas, including a preservation fee to China, has cost the zoo around 1.5 million euros annually. The zoo has also had to import bamboo from the Netherlands to feed the pandas. The Chinese Embassy in Helsinki has noted that Beijing has tried to help Ähtäri solve its financial difficulties, but declining visitor numbers and the changing economic environment have made it too difficult for the zoo to continue caring for the pandas.

Lumi and Pyry will enter into a month-long quarantine in late October before being shipped back to China. Finland was one of the first Western nations to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1950. China has a history of gifting giant pandas to countries as a sign of goodwill and closer political ties. Finland was the first Nordic nation to receive pandas.