The District Court of Southern Ostrobothnia placed Ähtäri Zoo Ltd as well as the adjoining Hotel Mesikämmen into bankruptcy at a hearing on Monday morning.

The court's move follows a bankruptcy filing submitted by the two companies last Friday.

Ähtäri Zoo was once home to Lumi and Pyry, two giant pandas leased by the Chinese government to the facility in 2018.

However, the costs of housing and feeding the pandas became too much for the zoo, which is 99 percent owned by the local municipality, and a decision was made last year to send Lumi and Pyry back to China.

In a statement released last week, the facility said the bankruptcy filing was submitted following "thorough consideration" and after unsuccessful attempts had been made to balance the books in other ways.

"We are aiming to find a successor for the companies' operations, but it is also possible that activities will end permanently," Ähtäri Zoo's CEO Arja Väliaho said on Friday.

The statement added that services at both the zoo and Hotel Mesikämmen will continue as normal until the end of this month.

The All Points North podcast visited Ähtäri Zoo last year to hear about the financial challenges the facility was facing, and the difficult decision it had to take to sent Lumi and Pyry back to China. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.