Sixty pandas relocated last year from a famous Chinese nature reserve after their breeding centre was severely damaged by a massive earthquake will return home after repairs in 2012.

China will begin building a new panda breeding centre next month to replace a world-famous preserve badly damaged in last year’s devastating earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province.

Pandas living in an earthquake-hit area of south west China have been evacuated to temporary shelters because of the continuing threat of landslides and other hazards, a local forestry bureau report said today.

Fears were raised today over the safety of scores of China's giant pandas in the wake of last month's huge earthquake.

A PANDA once believed to be male and sent to Japan to breed with a female without success gave birth to twin cubs this week, Chinese media reported yesterday.