Giant panda Hua Jiao is seen crawling out of cage and released into the wild at Liziping Nature Reserve, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 19, 2015. Hua Jiao was the fifth captive-bred giant panda to be sent back home following giant panda Xiang Xiang, Tao Tao, Zhang Xiang and Xue Xue. (Photo: Xinhua/Xue Yubin)
Another nature reserve qualified to release giant pandas into the wild will be ready for the work by the end of this winter, the forestry department in southwest China's Sichuan Province said Friday.
A release base has been set up inside the Daxiangling Nature Reserve in Yingjing County, Ya'an City. The reserve covers an area of 29,000 hectares and is home to 44 animal species and 17 plants under key national protection.
Construction on the base began at the end of 2014 after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake destroyed the panda's habitat in 2013.
The province's first release base for pandas entered operation in Liziping Nature Reserve, also in Ya'an, in 2009. Five giant pandas have since been released for wild training.
