Giant pandas in Chengdu safe from earthquake, no news from Wolong

Source: Xinhua | 05-13-2008 18:12

CHENGDU, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The more than 60 giant pandas at a research base in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, were safe after Monday's devastating earthquake, sources with the base said Tuesday.

Most of the pandas were roaming in the open air and unaffected when the quake hit on Monday afternoon, said an official with the research base, who gave only his family name as Fei. "We didn't close the area to visitors."

He said the quake did ring an alarm to the 200-odd workers. "We have double-checked the walls and the pandas' pens to make sure of their safety."

After a thorough safety check, the base still opened to tourists on Tuesday morning, he said.

"Some international tourists arrived before 8 a.m. even though it was raining," he said. "They were relieved to hear the pandas were unaffected by the quake."

The research base, home to one of the world's biggest groups of artificially-bred giant pandas, received an estimated 1,000 visitors on Tuesday, though aftershocks were constantly felt in the city.

It is still impossible to obtain any information from Wolong, another giant panda base about 30 km from the epicenter Wenchuan.

"We've lost contact with the Wolong center for more than 20 hours and we are gravely concerned over the safety of our colleagues and the pandas," said Fei.

Fei and his colleagues have been trying to call the Wolong center, but of no avail. "We are aware that there's been no news from Wolong at all even on the newspapers and TV."

Xinhua has learned that about 60,000 people in several townships and villages in the epicenter Wenchuan are entirely out of reach.

"The Chengdu base and Wolong center are like two brothers," said Fei. "We cooperate closely, share many research findings and exchange visits. If they are in trouble, we have the personnel and facilities to help them out."

Editor:Xiong Qu