Large areas of bamboo forests in southwest China's Sichuan Province were buried under debris and landslides caused by the powerful tremors. Chinese media have reported that 54 pandas were evacuated from the Wolong panda reserve after the quake.
"A team of researchers from the Wolong center are launching a large-scale probe into the natural habitat of Chinese pandas," the Chinese biologist said.
Five teams of researches have so far been established at the giant panda research center. The researchers will soon set off for local forests and mountains to assess the damage caused by the quake.
The Wolong center was established by the Chinese government in 1963 and is the country's largest national nature reserve.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), wild giant pandas inhabit only three Chinese provinces - Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan. Their number has been estimated at 1,590, but keeps falling.
The panda is the symbol of both China and the WWF.
The May 12 earthquake, China's most powerful for 30 years, claimed around 70,000 lives.
