Yahoo News 23 Jun 08;
China's giant pandas are facing severe food shortages after last month's magnitude-8.0 earthquake which devastated large swathes of bamboo forest in the nation's southwest, state media reported.
Breeders are having to ration bamboo for the 67 endangered bears in the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Sichuan province, the Xinhua news agency said Sunday.
The May 12 earthquake, which has left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing, damaged bamboo forests in five areas close to the research base, sharply reducing supplies of the panda's staple food, according to the agency.
Adult giant pandas at the base now produce as little as two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of faeces per day, compared with the usual robust average of 10 kilograms.
Breeders are giving the pandas animal feed and fruits as they wait for new bamboo to grow, according to the report. The shortages come during the breeding season, when pandas need to eat more, it said.
The 1,400 wild pandas in the quake-hit regions represent about 88 percent of the country's total. Sichuan is their main home, with others living in nearby provinces.
