Howard G. Buffett, the eldest son of the world's billionaire Warren Edward Buffett, on Friday donated US$50,000 through the Buffett Foundation to the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

So far, donations from Howard Buffet to the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base have reached US$150,000.

"The move aims to promote the scientific research of the base to improve its wild breeding ability and to better protect giant pandas," said Zhang Xiaoqian, the private assistant of Howard Buffett, who made the donation in the name of Buffett.

According to Zhang, to realize the large-scale wild breeding of giant pandas and to effectively protect the rare species, Buffett is making great efforts to call for more people and institutions to participate in the protection of China's giant pandas.

Located in the northern suburbs of Chengdu, the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base is China's only professional research institute of giant pandas.

Founded in 1987 and covering an area of 40 hectares, the base boasts over 40 pandas. By simulating the wild environment, the base aims to make a comprehensive research of the propagation, breeding and disease prevention and treatment of giant pandas.

As one of the most ancient and most endangered species in the world, the number of wild giant pandas is estimated at around 1,000 worldwide, most living in the high mountains around the Sichuan Basin in southwest China. There are about 160 giant pandas raised in captivity in the world.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2004)