资金短缺:芬兰考虑将大熊猫送回中国 I 南华早报

  • 芬兰的一家动物园–阿赫塔里动物园宣布,他们正准备归还从中国借来的两只大熊猫,因为他们无法再负担它们的抚养费。

  • 这两只大熊猫被命名为Lumi和Pyry,在中国国家主席习近平访问北欧国家期间签署了保护动物的联合协议后,于2018年1月被带到了芬兰。

  • 阿赫塔里动物园是一家私营公司,它曾希望这些大熊猫能给他们的芬兰中部地区带来游客,但由于大流行病引起的旅游业的下降,反而积累了越来越多的债务。

  • 芬兰政府在2021年给予了20万欧元的一次性支持,但拒绝了500万欧元(540万美元)的拨款申请,一些议员指出,这一数额高于该国每年用于保护本国一些濒危物种的费用。

  • 外交部已经成立了一个工作小组,以寻求解决方案,但不一定能找到解决方案。

  • 动物园将于2月28日作出是否归还大熊猫的最终决定。

  • A Finnish zoo, Ahtari Zoo, has announced that they are preparing to return two giant pandas on loan from China as they could no longer afford their upkeep.

  • The pandas, named Lumi and Pyry, were brought to Finland in January 2018, following a joint agreement on protecting the animals signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to the Nordic country.

  • Ahtari Zoo, a private company, had hoped that the pandas would bring visitors to their central Finland location, but instead accumulated mounting debts due to the pandemic-induced drop in tourism.

  • Finland’s government, which gave one-off support of €200,000 in 2021, declined an application for a €5 million (US$5.4 million) grant, with some members of parliament pointing out that the amount was higher than what the country spends annually on protecting some of its own endangered species.

  • The foreign ministry has established a working group to seek a solution, but there is no certainty one will be found.

  • A final decision on whether to return the pandas will be made on February 28 by the zoo.

链接:https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3208274/cash-strapped-finland-zoo-may-have-return-pandas-lumi-and-pyry-china