Topic summary
Wolong National Nature Reserve
Wolong National Nature Reserve (from Chinese 卧龙; wòlóng; 'crouching dragon'), officially known as Wolong Special Administrative Region, is a national protected area in Wenchuan County in China. It was established in 1963 with an initial size of about 200 km (77 sq mi). It was expanded in 1975 to an area of about 2,000 km (770 sq mi) in the Qionglai Mountains region. It hosts over 4,000 species. In 2006, it became a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.
According to China's Third National Giant Panda Survey, about 150 wild giant pandas live in Wolong National Nature Reserve. The reserve is also a home to many other endangered species including snow leopards, red pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys and white-lipped deer. Before the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Wolong received up to 200,000 visitors every year.
The reserve became part of the Giant Panda National Park in 2020.