4月20日8时02分，四川省雅安市芦山县发生里氏7.0级地震，震源深度13公里。地震发生时，雅安碧峰峡熊猫基地的大熊猫们出现不同反应，有的先是发呆，之后有些开始往树上爬，另外一些则跑到“它们认为安全的地方”。据悉，地震发生后，基地的工作人员通过“爱心抚养”等一系列措施对受惊吓熊猫进行了安抚。首先保证食物充足供应，让大熊猫感到跟平常没有什么区别。对于受惊吓较为严重的年幼熊猫，饲养员通过一起玩耍、抚摸等方式平复它们的紧张感。
位于雅安市宝兴县东北部、距芦山地震震中约80公里车程的蜂桶寨自然保护区的野生大熊猫安危如何，尚在核查中。该保护区是野生大熊猫、金丝猴等多种国家级保护动物的栖息地，约有熊猫40多只。蜂桶寨保护区因地震出现山体垮塌和引水管道损坏，地震后到目前为止，保护区尚有 9名工作人员没有取得联系，但已有专人进入熊猫栖息地核实熊猫状况。
四川雅安是中国著名的大熊猫之乡。1869年，西方传教士在雅安宝兴发现了大熊猫，从此大熊猫被世界所知。
In the 7.0-magnitude quake that jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province, giant pandas have become special "victims."
Although no deaths or injuries of pandas were reported so far, the rare species at Bifengxia Panda Base, located 50 kilometers away from the epicenter in Longmen county, Ya'an city, were found scared by the devastating quake.
Ya'an is home to giant pandas. In 1869, a French missionary Armand David discovered the giant panda in Baoxing County of the city, making the black and white bears known to the world.
According to the video captured by the camera surveillance, when the quake occurred at 8:02 a.m. Saturday, the pandas were slack-jawed for a while, and then some of them climbed onto trees, and some others fled to somewhere else they believed safe, said Heng Yi, a spokesman with the base.
"Those daring ones remained calm, while the timid ones suffered from shock," he said, adding the pandas need extra care and even psychological therapy.
Breeders provided abundant food for the pandas to assure them "nothing is wrong," and for those young cubs who were scared the most, breeders will play with them to ease their tense, said a director surnamed Wang in charge of animal management of the base.
"Breeders' close-distance communications will help comfort the pandas," said Wang.
There are 61 giant pandas at the base, and nearly half of them were moved here from the Wolong Natural Reserve five years ago, when 8.0-magnitude earthquake happened near the area. People in Wolong also felt the tremor this time, but no casualties of human beings and pandas were caused, said Zhang Hemin, chief of Wolong Natural Reserve.
Apart from Bifengxia and Wolong, Fengtongzhai Natural Reserve, located in northeastern Baoxing County and 80 km away from the epicenter Lushan, was also a habitat for wild pandas. There are about 40 pandas in the reserve.
Quake-triggered landslides disrupted the road traffic and water supply of the reserve, and the conditions of the pandas there have been unknown yet.
Zuo Guangyuan, chief of the management bureau of the Fengtongzhai natural reserve, said nine of the workers were still not reached, and a special team has been sent to verify the conditions of the pandas.
No dead or injured pandas had been found so far, but aftershocks and potential subsequent disasters may threaten their safety, said Zuo.