In sad news, Mao Mao the last remaining panda that had been missing from the recent May 12 earthquake at the Wolong Giant Panda Center, was found Monday and dug out Tuesday, crushed by a wall of her enclosure as the river nearby swelled with landslide debris. She was nine years old and had mothered five cubs at the breeding center. She is pictured here, but not sure which of her cubs this is with her. The most recent cub of 2006, Xi Dou survived. During the furneral, He Changui, Mao's only keeper since she was 3 years old, stepped forward, crying and placed two apples and a piece of bread by the covered grave. There were three minutes of silence. Returning from the grave with red eyes, He said, "It's like you could say something and she would understand, "he said. "If you were happy, she was happy too."
Looking at this photo, you can really see how expressive her eyes were. Rest in Peace, Mao.
Wolong plans its future...
In a article released today, China Daily reports that an expert team who appraised all of their options decided that "it was not appropriate to rebuild the damaged low-lying pandas shelters and research center at the present site because the aftershocks may bring secondary disasters, such as the landslides."
Li Desheng, vice director of the Conservation and Research Center of the Wolong Nature Reserve for Giant Pandas said "the new center would still be located within the Wolong Nature Reserve, deep in the hills north of Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Sichuan Province, whose humid climate was favorable for bamboo, pandas favorite food."
That now makes the total of captive pandas living at the center at 47. Six were sent to Ya'an Panda Base, which suffered less damage in the earthquake, and the eight that were airlifted to Beijing for the Olympics.
