Paris zoo makes big bucks from giant pandas

Giant pandas have attracted increasing visitors to the Vincennes Zoo of Paris. (Photo: Reference News)

(ECNS) – Two giant pandas from China have been boosting profits at the Vincennes Zoo of Paris, according to a report from Le Monde.

China rented the pandas Huan Huan and Yuan Zai to France in 2012. In that year, visitors to the Vincennes Zoo increased by 60 percent to exceed 100 million, making the zoo more popular than Chambord, a more than 500-year-old castle in France.

Even though the zoo spent 500 million euros to build facilities for the pandas, and has paid about 100 million dollars annually to China to support giant panda protection programs, it has still made a profit.

Much of that profit comes from merchandising. The zoo purchases about 10 containers of panda toys from China and sells them to visitors every year.

The pandas also promote surrounding industries. A Disney-like hotel has been built near the zoo, and a grand hotel in a nearby town is underway, according to Le Monde.