Most of panda habitat damaged or destroyed in China quake

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — Over 80 percent of the giant panda's habitat in China was damaged or destroyed by the earthquake that hit southwest Sichuan province, an official at the State Forestry Administration said Tuesday.

"In the earthquake, 83 percent of the giant panda's habitat was damaged or destroyed," Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the administration, told reporters.

The fate of the pandas has been a cause of concern following the devastating May 12 quake, which cut off access to large swathes of mountainous areas, including China's largest panda breeding centre in Wolong, Sichuan.

A giant panda from the Wolong reserve has already been found dead after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

The 1,400 wild pandas in the quake-hit regions represent about 88 percent...