The decision to return the giant pandas to China was driven by rising inflation and accumulating maintenance costs that made their continued stay financially untenable for the zoo.
Ahtari Zoo had initially hoped the pandas would attract more visitors, but instead faced mounting debts due to the pandemic's impact on travel and tourism.
Despite negotiations lasting three years regarding the pandas' return, the Finnish government did not participate, underscoring that this was fundamentally a business decision for Ahtari Zoo.
China has historically sent pandas to foreign zoos as a means to boost international relations, yet in this case, the return was accepted as a mutual agreement.
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