Quake-hit panda reserve awaits Hong Kong aid

CHENGDU: Work to rebuild Sichuan province's Wolong Nature Reserve, which was destroyed in the massive May 12 earthquake last year, is expected to start later this month after an aid program gets a nod from the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

The epicenter of the 8-magnitude earthquake was just 30 km from Wolong. The disaster left a panda dead and another missing ever since.

Zhang Hemin, chief of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau, told China Daily yesterday that 14 of the reserve's 32 panda houses were destroyed, and the rest were severely damaged, rendering 61 pandas homeless.