By Prensa Latina,
Beijing : Eight panda cubs that were transferred to the zoo of this capital from Wolong, near the epicenter of the Sichuan earthquake, are in good health and have started to adapt to their new life.
These healthy specimens of a species that has been in danger of extinction were chosen by the internet vote to entertain tourists that go to the Olympic Games in the Chinese capital.
The long trip by roads blocked by landslides, and later transference on a special plane caused some agitation in the choosy animals, which were used to a quiet and ordered existence since they were born in 2006.
But the bears stopped being so fussy when their bearminders showed them great amounts of fresh bamboo leaves and shoots, which were in the habitat prepared for them in Beijing.
That plant is their favorite food, and every self-respecting panda feels entirely happy with a stable supply of bamboo that allows it to eat between 22 and 40 pounds a day.
The recently-cut bamboo shoots had especially arrived the same day from Henan province with the bears that were accompanied by the same care providers they have known since they were born two years ago.
The panda bear breeding and research center of Wolong, one of the institutions that has most contributed to reproduction of this species, suffered serious damage caused by the earthquake, which took the lives of five of its workers.
Two bears were wounded and six others got lost, but five of them have been found by the center’s employees, and the sixth was seen on Sunday on one of the mountains in the area.
The center’s administration was able to reestablish bamboo supply, despite the danger, due to frequent landslides.