A total of eight pandas selected to entertain tourists at the Olympic Games period, are expected to leave for Beijing on May 24 as scheduled, despite the quake hitting their hometown in Sichuan.
The animals, all in good shape, arrived in the panda breeding base in the provincial capital of Chengdu on Sunday night from Wolong, waiting for a flight to Beijing, an official with the Sichuan Provincial Forestry Bureau told Xinhua on Tuesday.
"They will take a special plane to Beijing on May 24 if no other accident happens, but the ceremony and the series of activities to mark their leaving are all cancelled," said Xiong Beirong, head of the bureau's wildlife protection branch.
The animals would be accompanied by their keepers during the flight.
"The keepers, who are quite familiar to them, will also take care of them during their stay in Beijing to help them get over any after-quake mental problems," said Xiong.
Some of the pandas behaved nervously and had less sleep and food after the quake, which has left nearly 40,000 people killed so far.
"It's necessary to have these people, who began to take care of the pandas since they were born, be with them now. Especially as they are facing the challenges of living in a strange place," she said.
A grand ceremony to see off the pandas was to have been held in Wolong-based China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, which is home to 86 pandas, as a promotion for panda protection.
However, the 8.0-magnitude earthquake, its epicenter is about 30 kilometers from Wolong, jolted Sichuan on May 12, leaving five Wolong center staff workers killed, two pandas injured, six pandas missing and panda houses damaged.