Plans for the rebuilding of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) at the Wolong Nature Reserve are underway.
Geological studies confirmed the danger of rebuilding at the original Wolong Panda Center and a safer location has been selected 23 km away in Gengda Town in the Wolong Special Administration Region.
The center will still be within the large Wolong Nature Reserve but divided into two sections. It will be a comprehensive base integrating scientific research, captive breeding and reintroduction into the wild.
The area in Shengshuping will be for captive breeding and in Huangcaoping the concentration will be on reintroduction training.
Plans include a 1,500 sq meter (about 5,000 sq feet) research laboratory, and a 1,500 sq meter (about 5,000 sq feet) Panda Hospital. There will be 59 enclosures with a staff office for each 3 to 5 enclosures. Each enclosure will have both an indoor and an outdoor area.
The reintroduction area will include enclosures of three different sizes for different training levels.
Plans also include: an office building, a management building, a food processing center, a storage building, a training center, and staff facilities.
A large bamboo forest covering 275.6 hectares (about 680 acres) will need to be planted for the captive Giant Pandas.
The entire grounds will have a 5 km (3.10 miles) foot path.
A new Disease Control Center will be built at Juandongguo of Shiqiao Village, Qingchen Mountain Town in Dujiangyan city. This area is more centrally located and closer to other reserves. This center will include a research laboratory, a Giant Panda hospital, 40 enclosures and office buildings and will serve both wild and captive Giant Pandas.
Prior to construction of the new Wolong Panda Center, the infrastructure in the area must be rebuilt and roads and bridges repaired or reconstructed. Progress was delayed by devastating mud slides in the spring of 2009. Several construction workers were killed. The damage caused construction to fall behind schedule.
Construction began on the new Wolong Panda Center and the Disease Control Center in May of this year. If the weather cooperates, plans are to open both of these centers by the end of 2012.
