U.S. zoos to offer aid to Chinese panda facility

Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The National Zoo and three other U.S. zoos with giant pandas are launching an effort to raise money for colleagues in an earthquake-ravaged section of China that is home to a renowned panda facility.

The Wolong National Nature Reserve, in Sichuan province, was only a short distance from the epicenter of the earthquake that struck May 12. National Zoo officials said they think five workers at the reserve died in the disaster.

Two of the roughly 50 pandas at the reserve’s breeding center escaped, although one was found, a zoo official said. There was extensive damage in the region, and staff members are living in tents, the zoo’s Web site said. An appeal for donations is posted on the Web site at http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas.

The Wolong reserve is the birthplace of National Zoo pandas Mei Xiang, a female, and Tian Tian, a male. They are the parents of Tai Shan, who was born at the zoo in 2005. Zoo officials are monitoring Mei Xiang to see whether she is pregnant.

There are strong professional ties among panda experts, zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson said, and a representative of the National Zoo had been scheduled to visit the reserve this month.

“Everyone who knows about giant pandas in the field knows about the Wolong National Nature Reserve,” said David Wildt, head of the zoo’s Center for Species Survival, who was to have made the trip. The trip was postponed, but the National Zoo is joining zoos in Atlanta, Memphis and San Diego to raise money to assist Chinese colleagues, Baker-Masson said.

The zoo pays China $1 million a year for the loan of the two adults under a 10-year agreement. They arrived in 2000. The zoo has also paid $600,000 for Tai Shan’s two-year stay. He is to be returned to China next year for breeding purposes.

Wildt said that of the 35 enclosures at the reserve’s breeding center, 14 were destroyed and 18 were severely damaged. He said that about five days after the earthquake, the zoo got an e-mail from the Wolong facility’s director asking for help.