A panda rescued after the May 12 earthquake looks out from behind the bars of a cage at China Conservative and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong on Tuesday. June marked the start of the annual rainy season, which routinely causes the region’s fast flowing streams to flood their banks. Mao Mao's keeper, He Changgui, stepped forward, crying, and placed two apples and a piece of bread by the covered grave. During this tour, you will be able to explore the habitat of wild giant pandas and to be a panda keeper for a day in the brand new center. … I had visited the Wolong Centre before the terrible earthquake of 2007. They later discovered that two were missing. More than a dozen captive Giant Pandas were artificially inseminated. After the partial destruction of the Wolong panda center during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, plans were laid out to build a new facility a few kilometers away. The New Wolong & Dujiangyan Panda Facilities. The panda cam you’re watching shows baby pandas in the Happiness Village yard, named in honor of Xingfucun, one of many villages devastated in a 2008 earthquake. Alex Pasternack Treehugger.com. The nature reserve was heavily damaged by the quake, which was centered just 20 miles away in the heart of Sichuan province's mountainous panda country. The Center’s years of preparation ensure that every new habitat in the reserve […] So do you need a vaccine card? Additionally, a disease control center was to be built closer to Chengdu. There were 63 Giant Pandas at the Wolong Panda Center before the quake. Pandas International is a registered 501 (c)3 non profit organization :: EIN Tax ID: 84-1544557 Copyright © 2013 Pandas International. The majority of Giant Pandas and staff regrouped at the Bifengxia Center. We were in that area for about 5-6 weeks last year and really loved Chengdu, Songpan and, of course, Wolong.The Panda center was very close to the epicenter and had a lot of damage. The Wolong Panda Center in Hetaoping was a research and breeding center within the Wolong Nature Reserve. Copyright © 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. He, Mao Mao's keeper, returned from the grave with red eyes. On May 12, 2008, less than a year after these photographs were taken, the Center was badly damaged in the Wenchuan Earthquake and evacuated. by Hannah Schardt; photos by Katherine Feng 6 Eight years ago, an earthquake nearly wrecked China’s most famous panda research center. 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 Panda Center closed in 2008 due to earthquake damage. The Giant Pandas thought to be pregnant were the first to be evaluated after the earthquake, including the rescued Gao Gao. The Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center … On Tuesday, panda keepers and other workers placed her remains in a small wooden crate and wheeled her quietly to a patch of ground outside the breeding center where a freshly dug hole waited. Thirteen giant pandas from the quake-struck Wolong Panda center in China were relocated to the base to avoid threats from potential geological disasters after the May 12 earthquake. Five security guards at the reserve were killed by the earthquake. In addition, slides may be blocking normal migratory corridors for both food and mating. New homes include the Bifengxia Giant Panda Base about 75 miles outside Sichuan’s provincial capital of Chengdu, in Ya’an (under the Wolong Authority) another breeding center in Chengdu itself, and facilities in the eastern province of Fujian and the southern province of Guangdong. Tragically, the Wolong Panda Center was largely devastated by the catastrophic 2008 earthquake. The largest outpost of the Wolong Nature Reserve, BFX became home to several giant pandas needing refuge after the Wolong panda breeding center was destroyed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. or mail P.O. View author archive; Get author RSS feed; Most Popular Today 1 Yes, Topanga is married to the Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp guy 2 … A brief but touching documentary of the damage done to the Wolong Reserve in China after the devastating earthquake of … Day 2 Wild Wolong . The center will have to be relocated to a new site because of safety issues, said Huang Yan, deputy director of research, but it will remain within the confines of Wolong Nature Reserve, which is located in a damp, narrow valley several hours' drive from Chengdu. Thus the only access to Wolong was through poor dirt roads over high mountain passes. Nearly 70,000 people were killed, and more than 5 million were left homeless by the 7.9-magnitude quake. Dujiangyan Panda Base is a branch base of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and Dujiangyan Valley is place where pandas are encouraged to return to the wild. The bamboo forest was buried under mountainous landslides of rock and mud. The effects of losing so much will not be known for years to come. The epicenter was just 7 miles away. ALEXANDER F. YUAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS. Unfortunately, the Hetaoping Panda Center of Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve was badly destroyed by the Wenchuan Earthquake and most pandas were relocated to Bifengxia Base of China Panda Protection and Research Center. Sponsored by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a new panda center was built in Shenshuping of Gengda Town in the reserve and put into use since Oct. 30, 2012. There is no way of knowing what effect the earthquake would have on the pregnant females, but, after being safely moved to Bifengxia, they all went on to deliver healthy cubs, including Gao Gao. The region, including the Panda Research Center, was largely devastated by the catastrophic May 12, 2008 Sichuan earthquake, though the captive giant pandas were initially reported to be safe. One was killed while another remains missing and one died from illness following the earthquake. Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve not only protects pandas, but also protects other pieces. Dr. Li, Deputy Director, said the the Wolong Reserve faces the potential for severe secondary geological disasters. There were 63 Giant Pandas at the Wolong Panda Center before the quake. There were three minutes of silence. He nodded. The exact toll on the residents living in the earthquake area of Sichuan Province is incalculable. Then the remainder of the surviving Giant Pandas were moved to safe locations. There is ratio one caretaker for every two Giant Pandas. The center was badly damaged by the earthquake May 12, which caused the deaths of five Wolong staff members. Contact us at [email protected] Gengda Wolong Panda Center in Sichuan Province, China Welcome to the Gengda Wolong Panda Center! A Short Break in Earthquake Memorial Site (½ Hour) For a rest and to break up the long drive, you'll stop at the 2008 Earthquake Memorial Site, which is located at the ruins of Xuankou Middle School. Since the severe big earthquake occurred in Wenchuan in 2008, the original Hetaoping Panda Base (核桃坪熊猫基地) was destroyed. About 1,590 pandas live in the wild, mostly in Sichuan and the neighboring province of Shaanxi. Eighteen Giant Panda houses were destroyed and 14 others severely damaged. Even as Jack Liu spends most of his time working to learn more of the fate of those in Wolong, he can’t help but wonder about scientific implications of the earthquake. Forty-seven pandas continue to live at Wolong, while one other panda, Xiao Xiao, remains missing. 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In 2008, the former Wolong Panda Research Center was tragically destroyed by the massive Wenchuan earthquake and the pandas once inhabited there were forced to leave for other Bases. Five Wolong staff members were killed in the quake. Several Giant Pandas had to be rescued from their enclosures and one Giant Panda, Gao Gao, was significantly injured. There are around 1,590 wild pandas in China, according to the Wolong center. He had been the panda's only keeper since she was 3 years old. "We haven't found any giant panda in the wild who died from the earthquake," Wang said. Liu Jin/AFP-Getty Images A giant panda at the China Conservation and Research Center in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, the epicenter of the May 12, 2008, earthquake. Toll on the Wolong Panda Center  Many slopes are unstable and are at high risk of being washed away by future storms. Eight Giant Pandas were temporarily on display at the Beijing Zoo as part of the Olympics, but have since been returned to Bifengxia. she said. It takes about three hours to drive the 120 km (75 miles) between Chengdu and Wolong. Box 620335, Littleton, CO 80162. 2008, a huge earthquake de-stroyed much of the research center. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Having an adequate food supply has become a critical concern. The Gengda Center is a part of Wolong Base, built after the earthquake after May 12, 2008. Several Giant Pandas had to be rescued from their enclosures and one Giant Panda, Gao Gao, was significantly injured. Six pandas escaped after their enclosures were damaged. We are both pretty sad about the earthquake that has devastated parts of the Sichuan province in China. or call 303.933.2365 Piles of rock from the nearby mountainside rained down on Wolong, as seen in the photo below. Nearly a month after China's devastating earthquake, the Wolong Nature Reserve held a funeral Tuesday for a panda that was crushed in the temblor. Most staffers, tourists and pandas were outside at the time. Say goodbye to Wolong for the day and hop back on the bus. I was curious to see how much the park had changed. Rescuers worked through a steady rain searching wrecked towns across hilly stretches of Sichuan province that were stricken by Monday's magnitude-7.9 quake, China's deadliest in three decades. Mao Mao, known to her caretaker as a sweet and playful mother of three, was crushed when the wall of her enclosure collapsed because of pressure from a dam of rocks and debris in the river. Lin Ping gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, on July 8th at the Gengda Panda Center in China. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/panda-killed-in-china-earthquake-mourned Replanting bamboo in the Wolong Nature Reserve is a major priority today. © 2008 The Associated Press. 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