South China may get its first panda breeding centre, taking over some of the animals driven from their home by last month's powerful earthquake in the country's far southwest, state media said Friday.
The Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, is applying to the State Forestry Administration for permission to breed the endangered animals, the China Daily reported.
"The park has all it takes for panda breeding ... with the state-of-the-art infrastructure and our rich experience of taking care of rare animals like pandas, koalas and golden monkeys," said Zhang Delu, a park official.
Currently only Beijing, Fujian province in the southeast, and Sichuan province in the southwest have panda breeding centres, the report said.
Giant pandas in Sichuan's Wolong nature reserve, which is just 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the epicentre of the May 12 magnitude-8.0 earthquake, are being evacuated due to post-quake dangers and food shortages.
Five of the pandas arrived at Xiangjiang Safari Park on Thursday, bringing the total number there to 10, the China Daily said.
© 2008 AFP
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