CHENGDU: Giant pandas living in the wild in Sichuan will face a struggle to survive this winter because of the damage caused to their environment by the May 12 earthquake, an expert said yesterday.

Zhang Hemin, head of the Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau, said the massive quake wreaked havoc in the bears' habitat, destroying huge areas of bamboo, their primary food.

Staff from the China Conservation and Research Center in Wolong recently rescued a giant panda from the wild that was in a very poor condition, Zhang said.