New homes for Wolong pandas

By Li Xinran  |   2008-6-10  |     ONLINE EDITION

GIANT pandas in the Wolong breeding center will be moved to a new site after the earthquake destroyed their homes, Xinhua news agency reported today.

A new safe site will be chosen for the pandas, said the head of the giant panda preserve and research center.

New breeding houses will be built in the Wolong Natural Reserve, which is especially suitable for the growth of the two varieties of bamboo preferred by the pandas, Li Desheng, vice director of the research center, told Xinhua today.

The May 12 earthquake killed five staff members in the Wolong center and left all the panda enclosures seriously damaged. Of the 32 panda enclosures, 14 were destroyed and the others were severely damaged.

Aftershocks threaten the breeding site which was built on a narrow area surrounded by mountains, Li said. Experts have suggested building new enclosures at a completely new site.

Water, environment and bamboo are the most important requirements for the pandas, Li said.

Wolong is in the southwest part of Wenchuan County and only 10 kilometers from the epicenter in Yinxiu Town. Built in 1963, it is China's biggest panda reserve and is home to more than 150 giant pandas.

The research center had bred 63 pandas before the earthquake and all were safe except one which went missing in the earthquake, the report said.

China has more than 1,590 pandas living in the wild in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

Sichuan, the worst-hit province, is home to 75 percent of the country's wild pandas while Shaanxi has 17 percent and Gansu 7 percent.