There are about 16-hundred giant pandas living in the wild in China, with most of them in southwestern Sichuan Province.

In May, 2008, the Wenchuan earthquake damaged a way of life for the pandas. Andrew Dupuis finds out how the next generation of bears is being cared for.

These giant pandas are more than one year old. All of them were born after the Wenchuan earthquake. Their life in a giant panda breeding research center in Sichuan is happy and healthy.

In order to help these bears lead the life their parents enjoyed, staff at the center are closely monitoring their daily life, including their physical and mental health condition.

Wang Chengdong, Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, said, "We have seven or eight people who take care of them. We also have the best vets to examine their health condition, including their vitality and appetite."

Last year, the center welcomed several new-borns. These naughty babies are nearly six months old now. Running into the "wild" for the first time, they can't control their excitement.

But for staff at the center, it's not all fun and games. It's also a training exercise for the animals to learn living skills, and to become strong and healthy.

Some of the staff say they spend more time with pandas than with their own kids. The baby pandas return the sentiment by treating their keepers as family.