China to Set up Gene Bank to Save Giant Pandas

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 10, 2001

China to Set up Gene Bank to Save Giant Pandas

China will build its first genomic resource bank of endangered animal species to help save the giant pandas and other rare animals. The bank will focus on keeping genetic materials of endangered animal species in cold storage including sperm, eggs, cells, skin, hair and blood.

Gene Bank Construction

The gene bank, to be built in the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, also home to the world's first use of frozen genes to successfully reproduce giant pandas in 1980, will be constructed together by Chinese and American experts.

To prepare for the bank's construction, eight Chinese and American experts gathered in the base to train approximately 30 employees in zoos and nature reserves nationwide.

According to Luo Lan, a researcher at the base, the United States is advanced in terms of the cold storage of animal sperms, while China has the advantage in its possession of the giant panda sperms, which forms the basis for mutual cooperation.

The Base's Plan for Gene Bank

Since 1980's, the base has planed to construct a genomic resource bank of endangered animal species focusing on giant pandas.

The Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in Chengdu, which boasts the world's largest giant panda sperm bank, has already stored the genetic materials of some endangered animal species, such as South China Tiger, pandas and snub-nosed monkeys.

There are less than 1,000 giant pandas in the world. Eighty-five percent of them live in Sichuan.

Giant Panda Photos More

The giant panda weighs 75 - 160 kg (165 - 353 lb). It occupies montane forests with dense stands of bamboo at altitudes of 2700 - 3900 m (8850 - 12,800') (although it may descend to as low as 800 m (2600') during winter). Cubs are born singly or in pairs, but the mother usually only raises one. The giant panda does not make a permanent den but takes shelter in hollow trees, rock crevices and caves. It is predominantly terrestrial but can climb trees well. Activity is largely crepuscular and nocturnal. It spends 10 - 12 hours a day feeding.

The giant panda does not hibernate but descends to lower elevations in the winter. The giant panda's diet consists mainly of bamboo shoots, up to 13 mm (1/2") in diameter, and bamboo roots. It also eats bulbs of plants such as iris and crocus, grasses and occasionally fish, insects and small rodents. Giant pandas are usually solitary, except during the mating season. More

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