China has to open a national park to protect giant pandas, suggested Southwest China's Sichuan provincial forestry department on Oct. 11, Saturday, reported Global Post.
Released on Oct. 10, Friday, a provincial environmental plan proposed the idea of a national park for giant pandas, which would be a crucial project for the endangered species, said department head Yao Sidan.
Involved in the plan is a repackaging of existing western Sichuan's forestry, natural reserves and wetland parks.
By 2020, the giant pandas' habitat in Sichuan should be at least 1.77 million hectares, according to the plan.
By 2015, 20 zoos outside China will accommodate pandas due to the magnitude-8 earthquake in Sichuan in 2008. The quake left China with captive pandas having nowhere to go after their habitat was destroyed, The Guardian reported.
World Resources Institute researcher Kathleen Buckingham said, "A new phase of panda diplomacy is under way. Panda loans are associated with nations supplying China with valuable resources and symbolize China's willingness to build trade relationships."
"The panda may be the modern-day white elephant, a powerful emblem of the modern Chinese nation," Buckingham added.
According to Edinburgh zoo director Iain Valentine, there are currently 340 giant pandas in captivity and China is "playing the long game."
"Until now it has been trying to build up the captive population to between 300 and 500. That's the magic number for genetic integrity," Valentine said of China.
On July 29, mother giant panda Ju Xiao gave birth to triplets at Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park, which was considered a miracle considering the low reproductive rate of giant pandas, Daily Mail reported.
Earlier this year, Ju Xiao was paired with 17-year-old Lin Lin and successfully conceived today's only surviving set of giant panda triplets in the world. In September, the triplets opened their eyes for the first time.