By Wang Wei

One year after the devastating Sichuan earthquake, China.org.cn paid a visit to pandaswho were evacuated from the badly damaged Wolong nature reserve to their new home at Bifengxia Base in Ya'an City, Suchuan Province.

　　

Photo taken on April 27, 2009 shows the gate to Bifengxia Base in Ya'an City, Sichuan Province. [China.org.cn]

Zhang Hemin, chief of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administration, told us the center opened in 2003 as an offshoot of the Wolong Panda Research Center which was established in 1983 as a joint effort between China and the World Wildlife Fund.

"In fact, the base was set up to split up the growing panda population. We were worried that if an epidemic broke out in Wolong, the entire species would be endangered," Zhang said. "As it turned out, we were able to play an important role looking after pandas transferred from Wolong after the earthquake."

The center built 17 temporary sheds and 20 new enclosures to accommodate the new arrivals.

Zhang said most of the pandas will be returned to Wolong nature reserve when the research center there is restored. But that will take two to three years.

Panda Kindergarten

Photo taken on April 27, 2009 shows a general view of the Panda Kindergarten at Bifengxia Base in Ya'an City, Sichuan Province. [China.org.cn]

Zhang Hemin showed us the center's Panda Kindergarten where 13 of the cutest babies in the world, all born after the earthquake, were playing happily.

Li Guo, one of the panda keepers, said the babies are put in incubators after birth to control their environment. They also receive daily massages.

When the little ones are around 150 days old they are moved to the Panda Kindergarten. "Here they learn to live independently and collectively. They seldom see their mothers, and begin to learn skills like climbing and identifying danger; they also learn from each other by playing games."

Leopard Mountain

Bifengxia includes a vast area called "Leopard Mountain", which houses a number of panda houses.

Photo taken on April 28 shows five of the last six pandas to be transferred to Bifengxia from Wolong. They are eating bamboos in the Leopard Mountain. [China.org.cn]

Staff told us that the eight Olympic pandas that returned from Beijing Zoo in late March live here at No. 1 and No. 2 Panda Villa.

We also saw the last six pandas to be transferred to Bifengxia from Wolong. They arrived on April 25 for a short stay before four of them were moved to Beijing Zoo where they will be one of the main attractions during China's National Day celebrations in October.

Near Leopard Mountain are six new enclosures built after the earthquake. The staff call the area "Little Leopard Mountain". Yang Jie, one of the keepers told us that this is the main breeding zone and is not open to the public.

File photo shows one of the six newly built panda enclosures after the earthquake at the "Little Leopard Mountain" at Bifengxia Base in Ya'an City, Sichuan Province. [China.org.cn]

Six pandas, including four females and two males, are living in the six newly-built houses. "The four females were just bred in late March and early April," Yang said.

"It's a good place for female pandas to breed, because it is very quiet and safe. Pandas like living at high altitudes; and although we are not very high up here, the area is covered with natural vegetation so the pandas can keep out of the hot sun."

Yang told us the newly-built panda villas were built with a number of improvements such as sloping floors to allow water to be drained off quickly.

"We also put logs in the yards to stop the pandas getting dirty from sliding around in the mud," said Yang.

Wolong Panda Club

Near the entrance to Bifengxia is a row of buildings that house the Wolong Panda Club.

The Wolong Panda Club, a conservationist group founded in 1992, helps the public learn more about giant pandas. With their slogan being "Help Us, Help the Pandas" they campaign to raise awareness of the need to protect pandas and their habitat.

Heng Yi, Bifengxia's public relations director, said the Panda club organizes panda volunteers, manages donations, and runs an "adopt a panda" scheme.