On May 23, six pandas left an important panda base in Wolong, southwest China's Sichuan Province, b {#blank#}1{#/blank#}of fewer and fewer bamboo trees.

    The pandas were t{#blank#}2{#/blank#}by trucks from China Giant Panda Protection and Research C{#blank#}3{#/blank#}to Ya'an, another base less affected by the earthquake, said Xiong Beirong, an official of Sichuan Provincial Forestry Bureau(林业局).

    Eight other pandas l{#blank#}4{#/blank#}for the Chengdu Research Base on May 18. They will be carried by China Southern Airlines(CSA)to Beijing, where they will s{#blank#}5{#/blank#}at the Beijing Zoo, said Wolong director Zhang Hemin.

    Liu Shaoyong, a leader of CSA, said the pandas were scheduled(预定)to leave Chengdu at 3 p.m. on Saturday. They will travel on a Boeing 747-700 plane w{#blank#}6{#/blank#}bamboo and water.

    "There is e {#blank#}7{#/blank#}water now, b{#blank#}8{#/blank#}food is still a big problem. The pandas need bamboos and apples. "Xiong Beirong said.

    After the earthquake, tons of bamboo shoots, apples, eggs, milk powder and medicines were brought t{#blank#}9{#/blank#}the center, but the supplies could only last about a week, she said.

    There are about 1, 590 pandas l{#blank#}10{#/blank#}in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu.