Lack of Tourists Hurting China’s Panda Center

Travel Blog  •  Joanna Kakissis  •  07.21.08 | 11:17 AM ET

imageThe Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding didn’t suffer physical damage from the deadly earthquake that left 90,000 people dead or missing earlier this year. But spooked tourists cancelled trips to the region, leaving only about 300 people visiting daily—about one-tenth of the normal volume, NPR reports.

Chengdu officials estimate the center will lose $1 million in revenue this year, and they’re having to cut back on research and even panda food. The publisher of a book about Panda Jingjing, the 2-year-old Olympic mascot who lives at Chengdu, is donating the proceeds from sales of Panda: Watch Me Grow to the center. 

Related on World Hum:
* China’s Panda Reserve May Relocate

Photo by colin zhu via Flickr (Creative Commons).