National Nature ReservePatrimonio Mundial UNESCOReserva de la Biosfera

Wolong (Giant Panda National Park)

China · East Asia (Sichuan)

East Asia (Sichuan)Declared in 19632,000 km²

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China's oldest, largest and best-known giant panda reserve, home to the world's first captive breeding centre

Area

2,000 km²

Protection category

UICN IV

Área de gestión de hábitats o especies — what the IUCN categories mean

Declared in

1963

Region

East Asia (Sichuan)

Climate

Tropical, Árido / desértico, Templado, Polar / frío, Montañoso

Best time

March to May

Length of its routes

2–3 days

Difficulty of its routes

Fácil

World Heritage Biosphere Reserve

Plan your visit

Best time: March to May
Length of its routes: 2–3 days
Difficulty of its routes: Fácil
Area: 2,000 km²

Highlight

China's oldest, largest and best-known giant panda reserve, home to the world's first captive breeding centre

Established in 1963, it is the oldest, largest and most celebrated giant panda reserve in China, and in 1980 became the first Chinese reserve admitted to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In 1983 the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda was founded here, a world pioneer in captive breeding of a species then listed as endangered. The devastating Sichuan earthquake of 2008 (magnitude 7.9) badly damaged the original facilities, forcing the breeding programme to move to new bases such as Shenshuping; since then, and thanks to that sustained work, the giant panda was moved in 2016 from endangered to vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, one of the great species conservation successes of the 21st century. It now forms part of the wider Giant Panda National Park, created in 2021 to knit dozens of scattered reserves into one continuous corridor.