BEIJING - A giant panda missing from a nature reserve since a massive earthquake hit southwestern China two weeks ago has been caught alive, state media reported Monday.

The panda, called Xixi, was captured on Monday morning in woods near the Wolong Panda Breeding Centre, Xinhua news agency reported.

It was given tranquilisers, put in a cage and transported back to the centre, Xinhua said.

Image
©AFP Teh Eng Koon
A hungry giant panda enjoys bamboo at a zoo in Beijing on May 24, 2008 after being evacuated from the famed Wolong breeding centre in southwest China's Sichuan province due to food shortages and damage caused by the May 12 earthquake. A giant panda missing from a nature reserve since a massive earthquake hit southwestern China two weeks ago has been caught alive, state media reported Monday.

This leaves one more panda still missing following the 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12, which killed three workers at the reserve, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) away from the epicentre of the quake.



A team of workers repairing the roads had already spotted Xixi by a river on Sunday, Xinhua said.

But before a rescue team had time to capture her, the endangered animal fled and disappeared into the woods.

The Wolong reserve, home to dozens of pandas, is one of the largest breeding centres in the world. No pandas are known to have died in the earthquake, which has left more than 88,000 people dead or missing.

Six pandas went missing after the quake, and five have since been found.

Pandas at the reserve have been facing food shortages since the quake as well as continued danger from aftershocks, Xinhua news agency said.

The supply of bamboo favoured by the pandas was suspended as local residents, coping with the loss of relatives and homes, halted their usual gathering of the animals' favourite food.

Some pandas have already been removed from the centre.

Six were evacuated on Friday due to food shortages and damage caused by the earthquake and were transferred to a reserve near the city of Ya'an, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the southwest, which was less affected by the quake.

Another eight pandas were airlifted to the Beijing zoo where they will be on show during the Olympic Games in August, although their transfer was organised before the quake.

The panda is one of the world's most endangered species, with an estimated 1,600 in nature parks in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, and 239 in captivity, according to Chinese media.