The major habitats of wild animals such as giant pandas have been seriously damaged; and 49 giant panda nature reserves were damaged to varying degrees, according to the forestry earthquake relief feature news conference held by the State Forestry Bureau on June 12. It is gratifying to see that the pandas Tuan Tuan (found after missing for some time) and Yuan Yuan, which will be sent to Taiwan, are in good health.
The earthquake-stricken area is the key region for China's biodiversity conservation. The region includes a major habitat for giant pandas. The giant panda habitat area within the disaster region is approximately 19 billion square meters, accounting for 83% of the country's giant panda habitat area; and 1,400 wild giant pandas live there, accounting for 88 percent of the country's total. Forty-nine giant panda nature reserves were damaged to varying degrees by the earthquake; and 533 million square meters of giant panda habitat was completely destroyed, accounting for 8.3 percent of the giant panda habitat area. One panda died among the 63 captive giant pandas in the China Wolong Giant Panda Protection Research Center, and one is still missing. The destruction ratio of giant panda habitats in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other disaster-stricken areas range between 8% and 30%.
By People's Daily Online
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