标题: 芬兰动物园决定提前归还大熊猫 致力于经济挑战与未达预期繁殖目标
在中央芬兰的一家动物园里，两只以“雪”和“暴风”为名的大熊猫，Lumi 和 Pyry，在经历了6年的栖息生活之后，今年将回归中国。这一决策比预定的15年时间表早了8年之久。尽管芬兰与中国的双方都坚称这并非“熊猫外交”的破裂点。
核心的原因在于，这两只大熊猫作为稀有动物，成为昂贵的接待对象。
在2018年初抵达芬兰后，两只大熊猫Jin Baobao 和 Hua Bao 在中文中的名字引起了不少期待，当地民众涌出迎接它们。据芬媒报道，当年动物园的游客量达到了大约28万人，远超了之前的记录，并在同年为Ahtari动物园带来了显著的经济提振。
然而，距离任何芬兰主要城市至少两小时车程的距离，使该动物园在应对新冠疫情、俄乌战争带来的高通胀以及国内旅游业下滑的过程中感到吃力。此外，在此期间，Lumi 和 Pyry 并未成功繁殖后代，使得动物园在持续保持它们的存在方面面临挑战。
Ahtari 动物园通过多年的谈判和请求国家资金支持后，最终决定将两只大熊猫归还中国。据Ahtari 动物园首席执行官阿尔贾·瓦利奥透露，在工作结束回家的路上，她仍会经常去探访这些动物，“我一定会怀念它们的。”
在宣布这一消息后，芬兰与中国的外交部都强调其外交关系的稳定性和良好运作。
“这涉及的是 Ahtari动物园的问题。”芬兰外交部通过电子邮件发表声明表示：“我们始终坚持与中国的良好关系。”
中国大使馆政治处张译卿也通过邮件表示：“在友好协商后，中国和芬兰决定提前将两只大熊猫送回中国。”
近年来，中国为了加强其以熊猫为象征的外交努力而做出了调整。美国某些地方的“熊猫离开”事件引发了外界对于背后地缘政治意义的关注与质疑。
Ahtari 动物园正全力准备让这两只著名的大使归国，并预计它们可能在本年内返回中国。同时，为了给 Lumi 和 Pyry 举行欢送派对，本月计划将有一场特别的音乐活动，由一群芬兰居住的中国人组成的合唱团演唱，向它们告别。
在大熊猫离别前的最后一段时间里，Ahtari 动物园还为它们安排了一个为期一个月的检疫期。之后，这两只动物将启程返回中国。
至于熊猫曾经专属的 Panda House，在未来的日子里，它将继续服务于动物园中其它大型食肉动物的需求，适应更多动物的生活需求。
新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：Finnish Zoo Returning Pandas to China Because of Cost
新闻日期：2024-09-26
原文摘要：
Lumi and Pyry, two pandas who have spent the past six years living in a zoo in central Finland, are heading back to China this year, more than eight years earlier than planned. But both Finland and China insist that it isn’t a breakdown in “panda diplomacy.” It simply turns out that pandas are pricey guests. Hopes had been high when Lumi and Pyry, a female and male pair whose names mean Snow and Blizzard in Finnish, and who are known as Jin Baobao and Hua Bao in China, arrived in Finland in early 2018 on a 15-year loan. Thousands of people came out to watch their convoy arrive, according to the Finnish news media. And about 280,000 people visited the Ahtari Zoo that year, Arja Valiaho, the zoo’s chief executive, said in a telephone interview on Thursday— more than double its visitor traffic in 2017. The zoo, riding an initial wave of enthusiasm, spent about $9.5 million to build them a Panda House, Ms. Valiaho said. Then, it spent about $1.7 million a year on their upkeep, she said, including energy and maintenance costs and staff salaries, and about $223,000 in bamboo, shipped from the Netherlands. (Pandas eat 26 to 84 pounds of it every day.) Zoos also commonly pay an annual fee to China to host its pandas, although Ms. Valiaho declined to comment on whether it was part of the Ahtari Zoo’s arrangement. But the zoo, which is at least a two-hour drive from any major Finnish city, has struggled to keep up its foot traffic and thus revenue from ticket sales, as Finland endured the coronavirus pandemic, steep inflation spurred in part by Russia’s war in Ukraine and a dip in domestic tourism. And the panda pair just didn’t breed. “We would have presumed that a panda cub here would have attracted people,” Ms. Valiaho said. “This year we didn’t even try for cubs.” The zoo attracted only about 150,000 visitors last year, she said. So after years of negotiation and requests for more state funding, the zoo decided that it had little choice but to return the pandas. “Every time I leave work to go home, I go check on the pandas,” Ms. Valiaho said. “I’ll miss them dearly.” When the zoo announced the pair’s return on Monday, Finland and China both emphasized that their diplomatic ties remained strong. “This matter concerns the Ahtari Zoo,” Finland’s Foreign Ministry said in an emailed statement. It added: “Finland upholds well-functioning relations with China.” And Yiqing Zhang, a political attaché in China’s embassy in Helsinki, said in an email that “after friendly consultations, China and Finland have jointly made the decision to bring back the two giant pandas to China ahead of schedule.” China has been moving in recent years to shore up its panda diplomacy after several departures from the United States raised questions about whether there was a bigger geopolitical significance. This year, it was announced that pandas were being sent from China to San Diego, San Francisco and Washington. The Ahtari Zoo is certainly mourning the looming departure of two of its most famous residents. It is also preparing Lumi and Pyry for their long journey, likely later this year. The zoo will host several parties in their honor next month, including one in which a choral group of Chinese singers living in Finland is scheduled to sing and bid them farewell. (The pandas may be pleased by that: Ms. Valiaho said the animals perk up when they hear Chinese.) Then, the bears will enter a monthlong quarantine before their flight to China. And the zoo’s pricey Panda House? “It’s suitable for bears,” Ms. Valiaho said. “And there are other species of bears in the world.”
