The Qinling Mountain Range Wildlife Breeding Center is being set up in Foping county, northwestern Shaanxi province, say sources from its forestry department Tuesday.

The center, to cover an area of five hectares, will be built at a total cost of more than 985,000 yuan (US$118,700), the sources said, adding that 1,834 square meters of floor space has already been built for farming and wildlife shelters.

The breeding center, the sources noted, will be a comprehensive development project featuring animal husbandry, hunting, breeding, researches and observation.

The center will mainly breed and raise wildlife such as masked civet, the black bear, roe deer, boar, deer and giant salamanders, the sources said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2003)