EDINBURGH Zoo is sending money and equipment to China to help those dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake.
Zoo representatives visited a panda research centre in Wolong, in Sichuan province, to discuss obtaining a pair of giant pandas, just a week before the quake devastated the region.
Wolong, which is the largest giant panda reserve in China, was c
lose to the epicentre of the earthquake and remains under threat from aftershocks and landslides.
Five members of staff at the Panda Conversation and Research Centre died and many more have been injured.
The zoo has donated £10,000 to the disaster relief fund set up by the Chinese authorities which will help people and animals in the national park area, and has also sent a donation of communications equipment and satellite phones. It is currently investigating sending personnel to China to help in the relief effort.
Iain Valentine, head of animals, conservation and education at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), who was part of the Edinburgh delegation, said: "The Wolong nature reserve has been left absolutely devastated. We're very concerned for our friends and colleagues. For us it's not just about pandas, it's about helping people as well. The panda centre acts as a focus for the economy of the whole area."
The Chinese state forestry administration, which looks after the national park, has set up a special relief fund for people and animals in all the panda reserves in Sichuan. Communications to the area are still cut off.
The Wolong Panda conservation centre houses 60 adult pandas plus their young – about half the total population in captivity. About 10 per cent of China's remaining wild pandas also live in the area.
Mr Valentine said that three-quarters of the buildings at the centre had been damaged by landslides following the earthquake, and that the centre's specialist medical facilities had been flattened. The centre also faced a struggle obtaining bamboo to feed the pandas.
He said: "The state forestry administration and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association are working hard to resolve the problem.
"Staff at the centre are also working really hard to repair some of the buildings and to continue to care for the pandas."
He added: "We felt this was the right thing to do as part of the relationship that we've struck up. We will continue to offer our assistance."
• Robyn Rowles, who runs a photography gallery in Edinburgh, was also part of the Edinburgh delegation who visited Wolong. She plans to sell photographs she took in Wolong to raise money. The pictures will be sold at the Robyn Rowles Gallery, Howe Street, from Saturday until 14 June, and can also be viewed at www.robynrowlesphotography.com
WHAT NEXT? EDINBURGH Zoo officials say the earthquake has not dashed hopes of bringing giant pandas to the capital by next year, though they are putting negotiations on hold for the immediate future to concentrate on disaster relief.
During their visit to the Wolong research centre, senior officials from the zoo signed a letter of intent concerning the loan of a pair of giant pandas for ten years.
Iain Valentine, the zoo's head of animals, conservation and education, said: "At the moment, the main priority is helping the Chinese to overcome the situation they are in.
"The letter of intent sits in the background. When things settle down, we will open that discussion again, but at the moment it's not a priority."
The agreement needs to be signed off in both countries at the highest political level. Zoo officials had hoped that Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, could sign the official documents during the Beijing Olympic Games this summer.
