CHINA has built a biscuit factory to make food for its captive (圈养的) giant pandas, giving them a healthier diet (日常食物) than the usual steamed bread.
The special biscuits, developed by the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Centre, are shaped like bamboo so they will not seem unfamiliar to the pandas.
"The cream-colored biscuit, made of bamboo, is rich in vitamins and has 30 per cent more fiber (纤维) than normal bamboo," said Yu Jianqiu, who is in charge of the project.
Steamed bread, which is eaten by most captive giant pandas as well as fresh bamboo, loses much of its goodness when cooked, often causing bad health. What's more, it can only be stored for a short time, making pandas expensive to feed.
Thirty pandas have tried the biscuits since the factory was completed in October.
"They love our new biscuits," Yu said. "In time, all captive pandas will be given the new food."
Around 1,000 giant pandas live in the foggy mountains around the Sichuan basin (盆地) in southwest China, while about 140 live in captivity around the world.
The destruction of forests, a panda's natural home and major food source, is the biggest threat to the animal.
In 1998, China banned the cutting down of trees in panda-inhabited areas to help save an animal seen as a national treasure.
