The construction of the fifth giant panda breeding center has been completed at a zoo in central China, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.
Four giant pandas will arrive at their new home in central China's Changsha city (Hunan province) by May 1, but more pandas are expected to be brought in later.
"We plan to arrange for two or three panda experts to take care of the giant pandas and we'll learn how to help them breed," said Xie Zhongsan, a senior zoo official.
China's other four giant panda breeding bases are located in Beijing Zoo and Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces.
Giant pandas, which are slow to reproduce, particularly in captivity, are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
China started panda conservation in the 1950s. Through the combined efforts of locals, the WWF and the government, the number of giant pandas in China has increased by 1,000 since the 1970s. According to WWF research, there are about 1,600 pandas living in forests in China's Gansu, Sichuan and Shanxi provinces, and more than 200 living in captivity.
BEIJING, January 20 (RIA Novosti)
