Ähtäri Zoo

Ähtäri Zoo
The Snowpanda House of Ähtäri Zoo, March 2018
Interactive map of Ähtäri Zoo
62°32′20″N 024°10′34″E / 62.53889°N 24.17611°E / 62.53889; 24.17611
Date opened	1973[1]
Location	Ähtäri, Finland
Land area	60 hectares (150 acres)[1]
No. of animals	300[1]
No. of species	60+[1]
Memberships	EAZA[2]
Website	ahtarizoo.fi/en

Ähtäri Zoo is a 60-hectare (150-acre) zoo in Ähtäri, Finland that was opened in 1973. It is the second largest zoo in Finland, and is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

Köpi the moose was the first animal at the zoo. After several years, wolves and lynxes were added. However, the zoo's most famous residents are probably the bears, Santeri and his mate Santra, who have lived at the zoo almost since its founding. In 2003, the Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki gifted snow leopards to Ähtäri Zoo to celebrate their 30th anniversary. By 2006, there were 65 animals, mostly from the coniferous zone.^[1]

Since its establishment, one goal of the Ähtäri Zoo has been to create natural living conditions for their animals. The 60-hectare (150-acre) area, in which the terrain and vegetation vary widely, has provided excellent opportunities to implement EAZA's basic ideas about how to treat animals in captivity. In addition, the zoo tries to increase knowledge of species and nature, and to share educational information with the public.^[1]

During Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to Finland on April 5, 2017, China and Finland signed an agreement on bilateral cooperation in areas such as cooperative research on giant pandas, agreeing to lease a pair of giant pandas to Finland for a period of 15 years. Arriving in Finland at the end of 2017, the pandas were anticipated to live at the Ähtäri Zoo. For this purpose, the zoo spent 8 million euros to build the panda house.^[3] Arriving at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport on January 18, 2018, the male and female giant pandas were subsequently driven to the Ähtäri Zoo, roughly 300 kilometers north of Helsinki.^[4] In 2024, Ähtäri Zoo decided to return these two giant pandas to China eight years early, saying it could no longer afford to look after them.^[5]

Animals at the zoo include snow leopards, wolves, bears, wolverines, lynx, foxes, otters, beavers, European bison, wild boar, roe deer, fallow deer, reindeer, white-tailed deer, snowy owls, eagle owls, and waterfowl.^[6]

• Media related to Ähtäri Zoo at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website