Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Quake-Rattled Pandas Get Hugs, Bamboo

Bears recovering with help from keepers

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 3, 2008 6:52 AM CDT

(Newser) – Zookeepers are helping pandas traumatized by the Sichuan earthquake get back to normal with hugs and games, the Guardian reports. Eight young pandas have been sent to Beijing Zoo and 47 more remain at the Wolong reserve, where the deputy chief said the animals' appetites are back to normal, but warns it will take up to 20 years for the center to fully recover.

Four of the center's staff died in the quake while others risked their lives to rescue panda cubs. "They were very scared and disturbed when the earthquake happened. They needed support from their keepers before they would eat again," one keeper said. "We talk to the pandas and play with them—that helps give them psychological support."

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

Pandas eat food at the China Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Friday May 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Chen Xie)

Pandas eat bamboo at a zoo in Beijing Monday, June 2, 2008. Eight pandas has arrived safely in Beijing after a journey from their damaged reserve near the epicenter following the deadly earthquake. (AP Photo/Color China Photo)

Newly arrived giant pandas have a light moment at Beijing Zoo in Beijing, on Saturday May 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Xinhua )

In this photo distributed by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, a newly arrived giant panda have a meal at Beijing Zoo in Beijing, on Saturday May 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Cheng Li)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Eight pandas are now calling Beijing home, brought there after the Chinese earthquake damaged their rreserve. (iyenwang)

View larger videos >>

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next »

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

World's Priciest Tea Made Using Truly Gross Ingredient

Wildlife expert plans to use panda poo to make $36K-per-pound tea

(NEWSER) - If you thought the world's most expensive coffee was disgustingly weird, you haven't seen anything yet: A wildlife expert in China is trying to make the world's priciest tea. The costly ingredient? Panda poop. An Yanshi plans to use the feces he has collected from a panda breeding center in Sichuan province as fertilizer, believing that it will impart a singular aroma. "Pandas have a very poor digestive system and only absorb about 30% of everything they eat," he explains. "That means their excrement is rich in fiber and nutrients." More»

Meet Atlanta's Baby Giant Panda

One-month-old will be named when he's 100 days

(AP) - About one month old, a new giant panda cub at Zoo Atlanta is still smaller than a house cat, but he is healthy and growing fast, veterinarians said yesterday after a weekly medical exam. The cub, who will be named when he is 100 days old following Chinese tradition, will be placed in public viewing areas when he can walk, usually around 4 months old. He measures just over a foot in length long and weighs 2.2 pounds. More»

China-Japan Relations Strained By ...Dead Panda?

Japan over-anesthesized China's male days after fishing boat incident

(NEWSER) - The death of a panda is worsening already-strained diplomatic relations between China and Japan. China loaned Xing Xing, a 14-year-old male, to a Japanese zoo, and he died last week after being anesthetized so zoo workers could collect his sperm for use in artificial insemination. Chinese officials believe the animal was given too much sedative, and is sending over a panel of experts to investigate, Asia One reports—but some in China are cooking up conspiracy theories, the Telegraph adds. More»

Pandas Freed to Give Birth in the Wild

Experts will monitor captive-born animals in forest

(NEWSER) - Four pregnant giant pandas are on the loose in a forest near the reserve where the captive-bred animals normally live, and they'll be allowed to give birth and raise their offspring there, the Xinhua News Agency reports. "We hope the mothers can teach their cubs life skills to help them survive in the wild," says an expert from the Wolong research center. " All of the carefully chosen pandas have experience of living in the wild." More»

Mama Panda Crushes Baby

Abandoned twin cub survives

(NEWSER) - The birth of twin pandas at the Beijing Zoo last week gave way to tragedy when the mother abandoned one and accidentally killed the other. Eight-year-old Yinghua delivered two female cubs, but “twins are rare and all mothers take only the first cub as their own,” the zoo president tells China Daily . Less than a day later, while trying to feed her baby, Yinghua crushed her to death. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Quake-Rattled Pandas Get Hugs, Bamboo