The giant panda lost the teeth and suffered a fractured skull, broken legs and chest injuries after falling into a ravine. The operation would help the animal take in more nutrition and thus restore its physical strength.

With the three new teeth, the giant panda would be able to regain normal chewing function and thus eat bamboo with ease, said Li Liujin, an expert from the No 4 Military Medical University, which is based in Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi.

The panda was found lying near a river by tourists on July 1 at a scenic spot about 80 kilometres southwest of Xi'an.

Thanks to careful treatment, the panda is recovering from its injuries. Its body temperature, breathing and pulse rate have returned to normal, Li said. It can now turn over by itself, despite its back legs being swollen.

"This is good news for us. Its physical and spiritual conditions are both improving, better than our expectations. We believe it's out of danger for the moment," Li said.

"Bamboo leaves and shoots are indispensable for giant pandas, so we began planning to insert teeth after it began to show a good appetite. We hope it can become strong again soon with better nutrition absorption," Li told Xinhua.

At the hospital, the giant panda is now being fed with milk and a mixture of bamboo leaves and wheat powder. It is also receiving nutrients intravenously.

Experts are also working on a plan of neural treatment for the injured bear, Li said.

However, the operation would need at least 1,500 ml of matching blood plasma, which is hard to find from other pandas, experts said.

They are extracting blood plasma a little at a time from the injured panda itself. "We have already collected 200 ml, but it is far from enough," said Ma Qingyi, a veterinarian with the provincial rare animal rescue centre.

China launched a special project for the protection of giant pandas and their natural habitats in the early 1990s. So far four centres for panda protection have been set up, with encouraging results.

To date, China has built 55 nature reserves for giant pandas, plus a dozen protective corridors connecting them. The area of natural habitat for giant pandas enlarged from 1.4 million hectares in the early 1990s to 2.3 million hectares.

These efforts have brought more than 70 per cent of the giant pandas living in the wild under effective protection, according to the State Forestry Administration.

(China Daily 07/21/2006 page2)