(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-19 07:15

Three giant pandas are missing after last week's massive earthquake hit China's most important reserve for the endangered animal, Xinhua reported on Sunday.

It was the first report about the fate of pandas raised at the Wolong research and breeding centre, just 30 km from the epicenter.

Seven-month-old giant panda cub Fu Long looks rests as he makes his first outdoor appearance in the zoo in Vienna March 30, 2008. Three giant pandas are missing after last week's massive earthquake. [Agencies]

The 8.0 magnitude quake killed five staff at the Wolong Nature Reserve and seriously damaged all of its panda houses, Xinhua said.

"The first batch of bamboo, apples, and veterinary medicine for the pandas, as well as food and the tents urgently needed by the staff, arrived at the Wolong Reserve on Saturday night," a State Forestry Administration spokesman was quoted as saying.

Aftershocks are still rattling Sichuan province a week after the main quake.

Sixty giant pandas raised at the Wolong sanctuary, nestled high in a valley four hours west of the provincial capital of Chengdu, were safe. Among those were Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, the panda duo offered by the mainland as gifts to Taiwan.

The government had not yet established the safety of the 1,590 pandas living in the wild in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.