The Qinling Wild Research Center for Giant Pandas, which specializes in outdoor study of pandas, was launched Monday in the Foping Nature Reserve in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Jointly sponsored by the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Foping National Nature Reserve, the research center has invited panda experts from home and abroad to carry out the study for the pandas living in the Qinling Mountains, said Zhao Dehuai, director of the administration of the Foping Nature Reserve.

Foping Nature Reserve, located on the southern slope of the Qinling Mountain, covers an area of 29,240 hectares, serving as one of the largest habitats for giant pandas in China. It is home for around 80 giant pandas, including the three brown pandas so far found in the world.

As the most endangered species in the world, pandas prefer living alone in high mountains and deep valleys, posing a great difficulty for the study of the rare species.

On March 26 and 27, 2003, experts saw two wild panda groups, which comprised six and five pandas respectively, in the reserve and on April 1 this year, experts had again witnessed eight wild pandas mating in the reserve.

"It is comparatively easy to see pandas in the reserve as the panda groups live in a concentrated area, which provides convenience for the outdoor study of pandas," said Yong Yange, director of the reserve's giant panda research center.

China has poured considerable resources into protecting the endangered species. The giant panda is dubbed a "state treasure". Their numbers have been on decline by low fertility, logging, poaching and periodic dying out of their staple food, bamboo.

So far, Only 1,000 giant pandas are estimated to live in the wild, all of which are in China in the mountainous regions of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.