Wolong National Nature Reserve#2008 Earthquake
{{Short description|National nature reserve in Sichuan, China}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}}{{Redirect|Wolong}}{{Infobox protected area
| name = Wolong National Nature Reserve
| alt_name =Wolong Special Administrative Region
| iucn_category =
| photo = Panda Cub from Wolong, Sichuan, China.JPG
| photo_alt =
| photo_caption = Panda cub at the panda breeding centre of Wolong Nature Reserve
| photo_width =
| map = China Sichuan
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| map_width =
| relief = 1
| location = Wenchuan County, Sichuan
| nearest_city = Chengdu
| coordinates = {{coords|31.02|103.10|region:CN-51|notes={{Cite web |url= http://protectedplanet.net/sites/Shaumari_Wildlife_Reserve |title= Shaumari Wildlife Reserve |work=protectedplanet.net}}|display=inline, title}}
| area = c. {{Cvt|2000|km2}}
| established = 1963
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body =
| world_heritage_site =
| url ={{url|http://www.wolongpanda.com.cn|wolongpanda.com.cn}}
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| order = st
| s = 卧龙国家级自然保护区
| t = 臥龍國家級自然保護區
| p = Wòlóng Guójiā Jí Zìrán Bǎohù Qū
| altname = Wolong Special Administrative Region
| s2 = 四川省汶川卧龙特别行政区
| t2 = 四川省汶川臥龍特別行政區
| p2 = Sìchuān Shěng Wènchuān Wòlóng Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū
}}
Wolong National Nature Reserve (from Chinese {{zh|s=卧龙|p=wòlóng|l=crouching dragon|labels=no}}), officially known as Wolong Special Administrative Region, is a national protected area located in Wenchuan County in China.
Established in 1963 with an initial size of about {{cvt|20000|ha}}, the reserve was further expanded in 1975, covering an area of about {{cvt|200000|ha}} in the Qionglai Mountains region. It hosts over 4,000 species.{{cite web |date=2005 |url=http://www.chinawolong.com/doce/about.htm |title=About Wolong |publisher=Wolong National Natural Reserve |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201172138/https://www.chinawolong.com/doce/about.htm|archive-date=December 1, 2006}} According to China's Third National Giant Panda Survey, about 150 wild giant pandas live in Wolong National Nature Reserve. The reserve is also a home to many other endangered species including the snow leopard, red panda, golden snub-nosed monkey and white-lipped deer. Before the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Wolong received up to 200,000 visitors every year.{{Cite journal |last1=Liu|first1=W. |last2=Vogt |first2=C. A. |last3=Luo |first3=J. |last4=He |first4=G. |last5=Frank |first5=K. A. |last6=Liu |first6=J. |date=2012 |title=Drivers and Socioeconomic Impacts of Tourism Participation in Protected Areas |journal=PLoS One |volume=7 |issue=4 |page=e35420 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0035420 |pmc=3338832 |pmid=22558149 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...735420L |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=W. |last2=Vogt |first2=C. A. |last3=Lupi |first3=F. |last4=He |first4=G. |last5=Ouyang |first5=Z. |last6=Liu |first6=J. |date=2016 |title=Evolution of tourism in a flagship protected area of China |journal=Journal of Sustainable Tourism |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=203–226 |doi=10.1080/09669582.2015.1071380 |s2cid=18860031 |url=http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/11898/1/Evolution%20of%20tourism%20in%20a%20flagship%20protected%20area%20of%20China.pdf}}
Wolong National Nature Reserve has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006.{{cite web |title=Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries – Wolong, Mt Siguniang and Jiajin Mountains |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1213 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date=10 Apr 2021}} The reserve became part of the Giant Panda National Park in 2020.{{Cn|date=June 2024}}
Background
In June 1980, the Chinese government started its cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature, and the "China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda" (CCRCGP) was established to ensure a future for the giant pandas. The aim was to increase the number of pandas in captive-breeding programs, however with the ultimate goal to return a larger number of pandas to their original, natural habitats. When the cooperation started giant pandas were still listed as an endangered species by the IUCN.{{Cite web|title=China Focus: Giant pandas return to China after years in U.S. |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/17/c_138064338.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517011226/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/17/c_138064338.htm
|archive-date=May 17, 2019
|access-date=2021-04-01}}
In 2016, the IUCN reclassified the giant panda from being "endangered" to the new classification "vulnerable", affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda.{{cite web|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/712/121745669|title=Giant Panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca – IUCN Red List|access-date=1 April 2021}}
Location
File:Lil regale 04Infl China Sichuan Wolong 18 06 04.jpg, a local native flower]]
A mountain stream runs through the Wolong Valley (where the reserve is); the stream is heavily armoured with boulders and smaller rounded stones. Stream waters are rather alkaline with pH levels in the range of 8.91. (Hogan, 2007) Water quality turbidity is quite high due to extensive sand and gravel mining in stream.Hogan, C.M., Lumina Tech, Environmental analysis of the Wolong National Nature Reserve (2007)
According to a 2001 research by Jianguo Liu, the rate of destruction is higher after the reserve's creation than before its creation.Liu, Jianuo, Marc Linderman, Zhiyun Ouyang, Li An, Jian Yang, and Hemin Zhang. "Ecological Degradation in Protected Areas: The Case of Wolong Nature Reserve for Giant Pandas." Science 292.5514 (2001): 98-101. Web. February 18, 2016. Using NASA's satellite images and records of population, Liu's research team concluded that due to tourism and the increase in local population, the reserve is facing an unprecedented threat. "Tourists don't think they have an impact on panda habitat, but indirectly each visitor has some impact," Liu said. "We don't see ourselves as a destructive force, but we are."(April 6, 2001) [http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2001/2001-04-06-02.asp Endangered Pandas Not Safe in Chinese Nature Reserve], Environment News Service.
Breeding program
Pandas from Wolong have been loaned to zoos all over the world to ensure breeding success. Bai Yun, who was the first female panda born at the Nature Reserve in 1991, was the first panda to be loaned to a zoo outside of China. From 1996 until 2019 she lived at the San Diego Zoo in California, where she gave birth to six cubs.
When the conservation loan ended, 27 year old Bai Yun was returned to China together with her last-born old son, Xiao Liwu.
The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda engages in global cooperations with 16 zoos in 14 countries, providing the world's largest platform for the scientific research regarding the giant pandas. By 2019 a total of 19 other pandas have been returned to China.{{Cite web|title=China Focus: Giant pandas return to China after years in U.S. |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/17/c_138064338.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517011226/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/17/c_138064338.htm|archive-date=May 17, 2019|access-date=2021-04-01}}
Fauna
The giant panda is the most famous species of the reserve. Other typical larger Carnivora are the Ussuri dhole, Asian black bear, Asiatic golden cat, clouded leopard, red panda, hog badger and yellow-throated marten. Hooved mammals are represented by Sichuan takins, wild boar, musk deer, mainland serows, Chinese gorals, tufted deer and sambar deer. Other noticeable mammals include golden snub-nosed monkeys, Tibetan macaques, complex-toothed flying squirrels, bamboo rats, and porcupines.{{cite journal |author1=Johnson, Kenneth G. |author2=Wei, Wang |author3=Reid, Donald G. |author4=Jinchu, Hu |title=Food Habits of Asiatic Leopards (Panthera pardus fusea) in Wolong Reserve, Sichuan, China |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=74 |number=3 |date=August 1993 |pages=646–650|doi=10.2307/1382285 |jstor=1382285 }} Because the reserve comprises different altitudes, it includes tropical and temperate climate zones and harbors species typically for the tropics, like sambar deer as well as species from temperate regions, like white-lipped deer, snow leopards and Turkestan lynxes.{{cite book |last1=Riley |first1=William |last2=Riley |first2=Laura |title=Nature's Strongholds. The World's Great Wildlife Reserves |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-691-12219-9}}
Camera-trap surveys conducted in the reserve area between 2005 and 2009 did not record any leopard.{{cite journal |author=Li, S. |author2=Wang, D. |author3=Lu, Z. |author4=Mc Shea, W.J. |year=2010 |title=Cats living with pandas: The status of wild felids within giant panda range, China |journal=Cat News |volume=52 |pages=20–23}} In 2018, a leopard was photographed by a camera trap at an elevation of {{cvt|4080|m}}. The same camera, installed in 2017, also captured images of snow leopards seven times.{{cite news|date=2018|title=Rare leopard spotted in panda habitat|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-07/25/c_137347601.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725121307/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-07/25/c_137347601.htm|archive-date=July 25, 2018}}
2008 earthquake
The region, including the Panda Research Center, was largely devastated by the catastrophic May 12, 2008 Sichuan earthquake, though the captive giant pandas were initially reported to be safe.(May 14, 2008). [http://www.pandasinternational.org/news/quake_letter3.html Pandas International].(May 13, 2008). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7397935.stm Pandas 'safe' at park after quake]. Immediately after the quake, officials were unable to contact the reserve.{{cite news|title=Report: Rare giant pandas at Chinese breeding center safe after quake| date=2008-05-13|work=International Herald Tribune|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/13/asia/AS-GEN-China-Quake-Pandas.php|access-date = May 20, 2008}} Five security guards at the reserve were killed by the earthquake.{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/138079/|title=Animal Instinct|last=Liu|first=Melinda|date=2008-05-21|series=China Earthquake|work=Newsweek|access-date=2008-06-10 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080614033628/http://www.newsweek.com/id/138079/ |archive-date = June 14, 2008}} Six pandas escaped after their enclosures were damaged. By May 20, two pandas at the reserve were found to be injured, while the search continued for another two adult pandas that went missing after the quake.{{cite news|title=Two pandas missing in China quake region|date=2008-05-20|publisher=UPI|url=http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/20/two_pandas_missing_in_china_quake_region/6711/|access-date=2008-05-20}} On May 28, 2008, nine-year-old Mao Mao (mother of five) was still missing.{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/29/china.pandas.ap/index.html|title=Panda reserve mulls moving after quake damage|agency=Associated Press|date= May 29, 2008|publisher=CNN|access-date=2008-05-29 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080601053533/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/29/china.pandas.ap/index.html |archive-date = 2008-06-01}} On Monday, June 9, she was found dead as a result of being crushed by a wall in her enclosure.{{cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/10/content_8341008.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614072418/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/10/content_8341008.htm|archive-date=June 14, 2008|title=One panda confirmed dead in China quake|last=Yan|first=Yangtze|date=2008-06-10|work=Window of China|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|access-date=2008-06-10}}
The giant pandas were relocated to the Bifengxia Panda Base, which is also managed by the China Panda Protection and Research Center.{{cite web|title=Wolong National Natural Reserve |url=http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/chengdu/wolong.htm|publisher=TravelChinaGuide.com}} Starting in 2012, they were relocated to the new Shenshuping Panda Center.
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{commons category|Wolong National Nature Reserve}}
- {{Official website|http://www.chinawolong.gov.cn}} {{in lang|zh}}
- [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2016-09-28/dressing-up-in-a-panda-suit-can-really-make-a-difference Wolong National Nature Reserve In Bloomberg]
{{Zoos of China}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Biological research institutes
Category:Nature reserves of Sichuan
Category:Biosphere reserves of China
Category:Protected areas established in 1963
Category:Tourist attractions in Sichuan