Admin Mama Bear
Posts : 188 Join date : 2008-06-04 Location : Portland Oregon, USA
| Subject: Today's newsletter from Panda's International Fri Jun 06, 2008 2:01 pm | |
| READ MORE AT http://pandasinternational.org Pandas International • P.O. Box 620335 • Littleton, Colorado 80162 • 303.933.2365 Wolong Still Without Power - Quote :
- Since our last update, Pandas International has been able to fulfill more requests for emergency needs from Wolong. With your generous donations we have sent a large variety of items to the people, the pandas, and the research center.
Among the supplies is another quantity of rice and dried vegetables, 10 computers, 150 sleeping bags, more tents, personal hygiene items, 2 incubators, and two large laboratory (super cold) freezers. The old freezers were damaged, are being run by generators, and contain the semen from deceased pandas to provide diversity in future panda generations.
The people are living in wet and chilly tents during this rainy season, using fallen trees for cooking their meals and also the pandas’ nutritional bread, plus hauling water with buckets. It’s hard and tiring work to provide the basic needs for themselves and their cherished pandas. It has been a month since the initial earthquake and another large aftershock of 5.0 occurred this week. It will be months before the road is usable.
One of the missing pandas was sighted and headed towards home, but her path was blocked by debris. The veterinarians were able to use the dart gun (previously supplied by Pandas International) and bring her home — where she’ll give birth later this summer. As of this writing, we believe only one panda is still missing. And the dozen cubs continue to happily lap up the formula we supplied previous to the quake.
Communications with Wolong is primarily via satellite connections and their time on the internet is very limited. Since the earthquake and as recently as June 8th we were receiving requests to assist with obtaining a large, lengthy, very specific transmission cable to restore power to the Panda Center. Cost estimates varied from $300,000 in the Chengdu area to $80,000 on the east coast of China. They don’t expect the government to be able to supply it for months. We’re notifying other organizations and hoping that one or many of us can donate towards restoring some normalcy to the Center before the new cubs start arriving.
This weekend more essential veterinary medicines, purchased with the donations of PI members, are being personally delivered by a Colorado vet who is very familiar with Wolong. She had a scheduled trip to Beijing and is generously donating her time and airplane ticket to Chengdu and the arduous 16 hour road trip to reach Wolong.
And last but not least, Pandas International founder and Director Suzanne Braden hopes to be in Wolong within days also and we look forward to detailed first-person descriptions and pictures next week.
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