China has built three more nature reserves for giant pandas in southwestern Sichuan Province, a major habitat of the endangered species, the provincial government announced Friday.

The new homes for the rare animals, namely Maozhai, Dongyanggou and Ma'anshan, are located in Ganluo County, southern Sichuan and Qingchuan County, northwestern Sichuan, respectively, said Yang Dongsheng, head of the provincial forestry department.

Sichuan now has 38 giant panda nature reserves with an area of 20,000 square kilometers, which covers 46 percent of the animal's habitat with nearly 60 percent of the country's wild pandas living there, said Yang.

The central government and Sichuan Province have jointly invested 160 million yuan (about 20 million U.S. dollars) on a project to protect giant pandas and their habitat since 2000.

The new nature reserves are part of the project, said Yang.

It is estimated that there are around 1,590 wild giant pandas in the world, most living in the mountains of southwest China's Sichuan Basin, according to the State Forestry Administration.

Source: Xinhua