Sick panda gets tender loving care

CHENGDU - A sick wild panda recently rescued in Sichuan province's Beichuan county, one of the worst hit by the deadly 8.0 magnitude earthquake two years ago, has been recovering, but is still not completely out of danger.

The panda, which was discovered on April 26 by a resident in a cornfield in Jianghe village in Beichuan, had suffered severe damage to its liver, gall bladder and pancreas, the Chengdu-based Tianfu Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

In the wild, a panda usually leaves its mother to live independently when it turns one and a half years old. If it cannot adapt to the natural environment, it may contract illnesses and die, said Yang Zhi, vice-president of the veterinary hospital at the Chengdu research base for giant panda breeding.