Finland: Giant Pandas at Ähtäri Zoo

On Friday I got three postcards: two from Finland and one from Sweden.

The two cards from Finland show the Giant Pandas at the Ähtäri Zoo. The Ähtäri Zoo was opened in 1973 and is today the second largest zoo in Finland. Two goals of the zoo are creating natural living conditions for the animals and increasing knowledge of species and nature. It is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. In 2016 it was first announced that the zoo would get two Giant Pandas as loan from China to celebrate Finland's Centenary of Independence in 2017. In February 2017 the construction of the panda's home began and the two Giant Pandas arrived in January 2018. They will stay in Finland for the next 15 years.

The first card shows Pyry, the male panda.

Stamps:
Arktika (from set of six) (issued 09-05-2017)
Christmas (from set of two) (issued 06-11-2019)

The second card shows Lumi, the female panda.

Stamps:
Arktika (from set of six) (issued 09-05-2017)
EUROPA (from set of two) (issued 08-05-2019)

Thank You very much Soili!