Bifengxia is Chinese for “Green Peak Canyon.”
As the program at the Wolong Center continued to grow, not only was the center becoming crowded, but the threat of an outbreak of disease or infection was of great concern. If an epidemic were to occur among the captive Giant Pandas at the Wolong Center, it could destroy the entire population. Splitting the captive Giant Pandas of Wolong into two separate populations was planned to prevent this from occurring.
Construction of the Bifengxia Panda Center at Ya’an City, Sichuan Province began in October of 2002. Before construction, the Bifengxia base was a maiden forest with no power, no road and no housing. Dr. Tang Chunxiang, Assistant Director and Chief Veterinarian, described the base as a “blank paper, waiting for great events to occur.”