Howard G. Buffett, the eldest son of the world's billionaire
Warren Edward Buffett, on Friday donated US$50,000 through the
Buffett Foundation to the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in
Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan
Province.
So far, donations from Howard Buffet to the Giant Panda Breeding
and Research Base have reached US$150,000.
"The move aims to promote the scientific research of the base to
improve its wild breeding ability and to better protect giant
pandas," said Zhang Xiaoqian, the private assistant of Howard
Buffett, who made the donation in the name of Buffett.
According to Zhang, to realize the large-scale wild breeding of
giant pandas and to effectively protect the rare species, Buffett
is making great efforts to call for more people and institutions to
participate in the protection of China's giant pandas.
Located in the northern suburbs of Chengdu, the Giant Panda
Breeding and Research Base is China's only professional research
institute of giant pandas.
Founded in 1987 and covering an area of 40 hectares, the base
boasts over 40 pandas. By simulating the wild environment, the base
aims to make a comprehensive research of the propagation, breeding
and disease prevention and treatment of giant pandas.
As one of the most ancient and most endangered species in the
world, the number of wild giant pandas is estimated at around 1,000
worldwide, most living in the high mountains around the Sichuan
Basin in southwest China. There are about 160 giant pandas raised
in captivity in the world.
(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2004)