China's pandas are safe from earthquake

by cynthia yoo | May 13, 2008 at 01:21 pm

2819 views | 5 Recommendations | 18 comments

Some good news at last from China. The giant pandas are safe! There was concern over two major Giant Panda Centers located in the Sichuan region, following Monday's earthquake.

Authorities confirmed Tuesday that captive animals in two of China's major panda reserves were alive, according to Xinhua, China's official news agency.
The Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in southwest Sichuan province is home to about 86 giant pandas, who were reported safe Tuesday.

Staff and critters at neighboring Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center were also reported safe, according to a spokesperson for the Atlanta Zoo, which has two pandas on loan from the wildlife reserve.

There are new concerns about how food and supplies can reach these pandas that roam through the wild habitat centres.

Bamboo, the pandas' primary source of food, is a major agricultural product in the region, but whether it can be supplied to the pandas despite infrastructure damage is open to question.

"Wolong is hard to access under normal conditions, so the heavy road damage makes it even harder," said Kerry Zobor, spokesperson for the World Wildlife Fund.

Zobor said WWF had confirmed the safety of staff based in Beijing, but had not received word on the conditions in Wolong. She said the WWF was also concerned about members who had been touring the country when the earthquake struck. So far, the group has not been located.

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Beaulieu

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:48 on May 13th, 2008

cynthia yoo, I like this story. It's good stuff. Thanks for finding this out.

VeggieBoogie

at 14:41 on May 14th, 2008

YES, thank you very much for the update! I was supposed to be volunteering at the Panda center in 3 weeks and my trip was just canceled today due to the earthquake. Apparently there is too much devastation around it and it is hard to get in contact with anyone in the center.

I have been waiting so long to go on this trip and to have it canceled so soon before my departure is really upsetting. Though I am glad the Pandas are all alright, I wish all the people and their families that were affected the strength they need to pull through this mess!

nekkomew

at 22:19 on May 13th, 2008

Wolong is situated in the mountain valleys, - at altitude about 2000m. There are sheer cliffs everywhere, so the earthquake is likely to have created huge landslides and rockfalls in that area.

nekkomew has contributed a photo to this story.

Trekkengruven

at 22:37 on May 13th, 2008

Shot taken during a visit to Wolong in '06.

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copanda

at 22:49 on May 13th, 2008

panda cubs in Wolong on the day before the earthquake (a pandacam image)

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davidkw

at 22:53 on May 13th, 2008

Chengdu Panda Breeding Station - Apr 2008

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davidkw

at 22:55 on May 13th, 2008

Chengdu Panda Breeding Station - Apr 2008. I'm glad to hear things are ok there.

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Kulturschok

at 02:13 on May 14th, 2008

This panda enclosure just outside Chengdu, the largest in the world, is really doing great things to protect the species. The animals are very well looked after with a great freedom (no cages to be seen anywhere), as you can see they appeared very happy, and I hope the site continues to reach out and teach people about the threat these beautiful creatures are under.

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Murch

at 04:58 on May 14th, 2008

my photos are from the breeding center in Chengdu from this past fall. slightly ironic that these animals who by evolutionary standards have no skills are the ones surviving.

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bormanator

at 08:03 on May 14th, 2008

I'm glad the pandas are safe, but I am broken-hearted by all the Chinese casualties.

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Lemoned_i_scream

at 19:03 on May 14th, 2008

Hi! everybody :)

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bridgetchvostal

at 21:03 on May 14th, 2008

these shots were taken at woolong on July 2005

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sally bowe

at 13:13 on May 15th, 2008

I was in Chengdu last year, and the panda reserve was the highlight of my tour in China. I am greatly relieved to hear that the panda's are safe and the marvellous work can can continue.

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大眼猫

at 17:56 on May 15th, 2008

The panda is very cute.All Chinese people love it.The photo took at Beijing Zoo.I hope the people all over the world love them too.

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k222

at 02:18 on May 16th, 2008

I'm very happy that the giant pandas living in Wolong are safe,Although meeting a terrible earthquake!

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justjess17

at 08:12 on May 17th, 2008

This was taken in June 2007 at the WoLong Panda Center. From what I've read the staff will be feeding the pandas these 'snack bars' until the source/transport of the bamboo is reliable again. They are good for them and the pandas LOVE them, but are not the ideal diet that more bamboo is for the pandas.

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