Pandas Pyry and Lumi begin transfer back to China from Ähtäri Zoo

The transfer of the pandas, Pyry and Lumi, back to China has officially commenced, as confirmed by the Ähtäri Zoo. However, neither the zoo nor the city of Ähtäri has issued any further comments regarding the situation throughout the day. The communication strategy appears to prioritize silence on the matter. It seems that the zoo intended to carry out the transfer of the pandas to the airport discreetly.

Despite media outlets, including Yle, monitoring the situation closely, the zoo’s director, Arja Väliaho, along with representatives from the zoo’s board and the municipality of Ähtäri, have not responded to any inquiries from the press.

There are concerns that Ähtäri Zoo is repeating a mistake made by Särkänniemi in 2016 when it covertly relocated dolphins to a new facility in Greece during the night without any public communication. Särkänniemi faced significant reputational damage due to its lack of transparency, an issue highlighted in a thesis by Veera Svahn at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. It appears that this important research may not have been taken into account in Ähtäri.