Wolong Nature Reserve
Covering 700,000 hectares in Wenchuan County, Wolong Nature Reserve has 101 mountains taller than 5,000 meters and is home to nearly 4,000 plants, including the rare Sichuan redwood and tinctoria money maple. There are more than 50 species of beasts and 300 species of birds.
Wolong is the ideal habitat of the endangered giant panda, where the high terrain and damp weather are suitable for bamboos – the main food of the giant pandas.
On Oct.11, 2012, the reserve center sent a two-year-old artificially bred male panda--"Taotao"--to wild, signaling a second trial afetr their first failed attempt to keep a five-year-old panda "Xiangxiang" well in nature, six years ago. Xiangxiang was died short after bouts of fights with its peers. Now the scentists are taking a close look at Taotao.
Wolong Nature Reserve is one of UNESCO's Biosphere Reserves.
