Beijing: Sixty giant pandas at a research centre near an earthquake-hit Chengdu research centre are safe, the Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

There were no immediate reports on the fate of pandas at another research centre in Wolong, near the epicentre of Monday’s 7.9 magnitude earthquake.

The giant panda is endangered specie and is found only in China.

At least 10,000 died and the death toll is likely to rise as rescuers struggle to find more bodies buried under debris.