The giant pandas Pyry and Lumi, who have lived in a zoo in Etseri, Finland since 2018, will be flown back home to China on Friday, reports Finnish Yle.
The journey from the zoo to the airport took approximately five hours.
"We are now focusing on a calm and safe journey for the pandas, which have been well-prepared in advance", writes operations manager Arja Väliaho to Yle.
The male Pyry (Snowy) and the female Lumi (Snow) came to Finland as a "gift" in connection with the country's 100th anniversary celebration. The idea was that they would be leased from China for 15 years within the framework of an international program to protect the species.
However, the pandas became too expensive to maintain and in September this year, the zoo announced that they would be sent back before the end of the year.
