Shock waves from a 2008 earthquake in southwest China still echo for a Colorado charity and its supporters.
The quake destroyed the Wolong Panda Center and damaged the bamboo forest in the nearby nature reserve, leaving the endangered animals even more vulnerable. Three years of torrential rains flooding and mudslides followed. “Mother nature hasn’t been kind,” said Suzanne Braden, co-founder of Littleton-based Pandas International.
A dinner and silent auction is slated 5:30 p.m. Saturday Feb. 25 at the Palace Chinese Restaurant, 6265 E. Evans Ave. in Denver. The benefit will feature a Chinese feast, silent auction, wine garden and traditional Lion Dance honoring the Chinese Year of the Dragon.
Braden will report on conditions she discovered during a two-week visit to China in September. “Starvation is a potential and unacceptable reality,” she said.
Satellite images commissioned by the Chinese Academy of Science found the earthquake had an impact on 23 percent of the pandas’ habitat. An area of 354 square kilometers “was converted to bare land,” the study said.
Pandas International hopes to raise $135,000 for its bamboo reforestation project. Donations also will be used to buy veterinary equipment and supplies.
The funds will also help villagers who rely on the pandas and the reserve for their living. It will pay farmers who will plant and harvest the bamboo for both wild and captive pandas.
The giant panda has long been the symbol for another organization, The World Wildlife Fund. “The giant panda is the rarest member of the bear family and among the world’s most threatened animals,” writes WWF on its website.
Pandas live in a region that is “the geographic and economic heart of China,” continues the WWF. The area “is critical for biodiversity conservation." Best known for the giant panda, it has many rare and endangered plants and animals.
“The survival of the panda and the protection of its habitat will ensure that people in the region continue to reap ecosystem benefits for many generations,” continues the Swiss-based international charity.
The WWF also is working with the Chinese government to protect pandas.
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