Concern grows for China's panda reserves. Pandas survived the earthquake.

[sinkingfeeling]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/13/china.pandas/index.html

Authorities confirmed Tuesday that captive animals in two of China's major panda reserves were alive, according to Xinhua, China's official news agency.

The mountainous, densely wooded region is the natural habitat for most of the 1,200 giant pandas living in the wild, making it an obvious location for research bases like Wolong and Chengdu. Giant pandas roam the forest in "open cages" that are meant to provide them with a safe, natural environment that will prepare them for release.

Bamboo, the pandas' primary source of food, is a major agricultural product in the region, but whether it can be supplied to the pandas despite infrastructure damage is open to question.

"Wolong is hard to access under normal conditions, so the heavy road damage makes it even harder," said Kerry Zobor, spokeswoman for the World Wildlife Fund.

"Artificial diets in the form of protein biscuits have been created for giant pandas. They're not a complete substitute, but they meet the needs of a basic high-fiber diet," said Wildt, who has worked with two pandas that the Smithsonian has on loan from Wolong.