Ähtäri Zoo submitted an application to Ostrobothnian District Court on Friday for a debt restructuring plan.
The facility in Central Finland decided to apply for debt restructuring about a month ago, at around the same time as it was announced that its two star attractions — giant pandas called Lumi and Pyry — would return to China.
Risto Sivonen, the chair of the zoo’s board, told the All Points North podcast at the time that the decision was made to apply for debt restructuring in order to secure the future of the facility.
"The world has changed. The behaviour of customers has changed, incomes have dropped, and we find that we don't have the financial possibilities to continue [housing the pandas]," he said.
Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Lumi and Pyry were leased to the zoo by the Chinese government in 2018, as part of its strategy of so-called "panda diplomacy", but their maintenance costs and a species protection fee cost an estimated 1.5 million euros per year — leading to severe financial difficulties for the zoo.
The bamboo used to feed the pandas alone cost 100,000 euros per year, while only about 600,000 euros of the cost of their upkeep was recouped from ticket sales.
The zoo's financial problems were further exacerbated by the Covid pandemic and the facility was forced to close for two months as visitor numbers plunged.
The municipality of Ähtäri has a 99 percent stake in the zoo, meaning it has also been significantly impacted by the financial difficulties.
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