3 pandas missing from reserve after China quake

Three giant pandas are missing from the world's most famous panda reserve after the earthquake and five staff members were killed, a Chinese official said Sunday.

 

All the pandas at the Wolong Nature Reserve were first reported safe Tuesday, but an official with the State Forestry Administration now says three are missing, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.

The reserve's other 60 giant pandas are safe, forestry spokesman Cao Qingyao told Xinhua.

Wolong is the only place in the world where pandas, among the world's rarest animals, can be seen in such large numbers.

The reserve is 18 miles from the epicenter of the May 12 earthquake that has killed more than 32,000 people. The government has said it expects the final death toll will surpass 50,000.