Their rarity and slow breeding make any large-scale loss critical to the population.
"The wild pandas, they can sense things. I'm sure they moved to higher terrain. But captive pandas do not have that luxury. They do not have the skills to survive in the wild," said Suzanne Braden, director of U.S.-based Pandas International, which supports Wolong with medical equipment.
More than 60 pandas at another breeding center in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu are safe, said an official there who gave his family name as Fei. The center even opened to tourists Tuesday, he said.
Thirty-one British tourists panda-watching in Wolong and initially reported missing were safe and in the provincial capital of Chengdu Tuesday night, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Another group of 12 Americans who were on a panda-watching tour sponsored by the conservation group WWF also remained out of contact Tuesday, said Tan Rui, WWF communications officer in China.
Kerry Zobor, a spokesperson for WWF, told National Geographic News that the organization has been in touch with the American tourists' families.
"We have also been in touch with the U.S. State Department and authorities in China," Zobor said. "We are working diligently to get info but at this point, we haven't had communication with the group yet."
Magical Place
The Wolong center is deep in the hills north of Chengdu along a winding, two-lane road—recently upgraded—that reports say has been wiped out in places.
Rescue workers were only able to reach nearby areas of the remote region by foot on Tuesday. (See pictures of the Wolong pandas.)
Wolong reserve has a population of 5,000 people, there are two townships of about 2,000 each are Genda and Wolong township, Brody said.
Both the Wolong and Chengdu centers are part of efforts to breed giant pandas in hopes of increasing the endangered species' chances of survival. About 1,600 pandas live in the wild in China's mountainous west and another 180 live in captivity.
"It's magical. It's a beautiful place," Braden said. "It's high, clean, pure, where you'd like to think that wild pandas would be."
Zoos in Scotland, Washington, and San Diego were also trying to make contact. Officials at the Edinburgh Zoo visited Wolong a couple of weeks ago to agree to the loan of two pandas and they were very concerned, said zoo spokeswoman Maxine Finlay.
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The Associated Press and Christine Dell'Amore of National Geographic News contributed to this report
