Society

Pandas from quake-hit Sichuan settle down in C China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-11 02:38
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WUHAN - Two giant pandas have now "settled down" in central China's Hubei Province after their old home was damaged in the Wenchuan Earthquake that jolted southwest China in 2008.

The two male pandas, Xi Wang and Wei Wei, came to Wuhan Zoo in Wuhan city, capital of Hubei, in June 2008 and have lived there since.

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They had now officially settled down in Wuhan, said Li Desheng, vice director of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Sichuan's Wolong nature reserve.

Experts from the center checked how the two pandas were doing over the past two years and agreed that Wuhan Zoo was suitable for raising pandas.

The Wolong base, only 30 km from the quake's epicenter of Wenchuan County, suffered severe damage in the "May 12" earthquake with the death of five staff and one panda. Fourteen of the 32 pens were destroyed. Pandas were later evacuated to other breeding bases.

Xi Wang and Wei Wei have attracted 1.5 million visitors in the past two years.

"More pandas will come to Wuhan Zoo in the future," Li said.
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