Wild Panda Cubs Sighted in China Quake Site

Wildlife monitoring cameras have captured a pair of wild panda cubs in a natural reserve in an earthquake-hit region of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Videos and still images show the cubs walking and playing in Xiaozhaizigou National Natural Reserve in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County. This is the fifth consecutive year wild giant pandas have been spotted in the reserve in Beichuan, which was hit by a magnitude-8 earthquake in 2008, according to Zhao Jun, deputy director of the reserve, Xinhua reported. Landslides caused by the earthquake damaged large areas of grassland and bamboo forests in the reserve. The local government has undertaken projects to restore the giant panda's habitat since 2010, Zhao said. The projects, covering about 16,049 hectares of land, were completed in 2015. The 44,391-hectare Xiaozhaizigou National Natural Reserve is home to 515 species of animals, including 74 under special state protection, and 2,150 species of plants. Around 74 giant pandas were estimated to live in the reserve as of 2017.