The focal point of China’s preservation efforts is the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in the Wolong Nature Reserve, about a three-hour drive from Chengdu in Sichuan province. Established in 1963, the Wolong Nature Reserve consists of some 5,000 square miles (13,000 square km) of forest. The center, founded in 1980, is home now to about 100 pandas. The first panda birth at the center took place in 1986; in 2006, 18 cubs were born there. Altogether, about 180 pandas live in China’s breeding facilities, with a combined total of 30 cubs born in 2006. The first release into the wild of a panda raised in captivity took place at the Wolong Nature Reserve, also in 2006.