China has launched its first ever Giant Panda Valley in southwest Sichuan province as part of efforts to reintroduce the conservation reliant endangered species into the wild.
The Valley is located in the forest hills just fifty kilometers away from Chengdu, the panda's natural habitat. The Panda Valley is close to the Longxi-Hongkou Nature Reserve, which also has pandas, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The valley will be divided into three main areas: a district for research and education, plus another two areas to help reintroduce pandas to the wild. The giant pandas will be going through one area at a time. So far, over 350 giant Pandas are living in captivity.
The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.
