Panda Research in China Hampered by Earthquake
July 17, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
The earthquake that struck China two months ago has had a crippling effect on a research facility that studies panda bears, according to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding escaped physical damage in the disaster, but, with tourism in the region hard hit, the center has seen its visitor numbers plummet. It receives only about 300 visitors a day, roughly one-tenth of its usual traffic.
Center officials predict their organization will lose more than $1-million in revenue this year and have been cutting back on costs, including the amount and variety of bamboo fed to the pandas daily. The center’s habitat-conservation programs have all been put on hold. “Economically, it is a disaster,” says Zhang Zhihe, the center’s director.
The publisher of a new book about Panda Jingjing, the Olympic mascot that lives at the Chengdu Research Base, is donating the book’s profits to the center, raising $30,000 so far from American sales.
