170,000 People Moved to Make Way for Panda Park in Sichuan

Sichuan authorities will relocate 172,200 residents to make way for a national panda park. 

The provincial forestry department announced last week that the residents would need to be moved before work begins on the 27,134-square-kilometer park, which spans parts of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

The Sichuan section takes up 20,000-square-kilometers of space — nearly three quarters of the park. Seven different cities and prefectures, along with 19 counties, will be involved.

This isn't the first time thousands of people have been displaced by a government-approved project. Just last year, it was announced that over 9,000 Guizhou dwellers would be relocated to make way for the world's largest telescope in hopes of advancing China's search for extraterrestrial life. (The telescope just opened its doors to visitors this week).

And for more than two decades, over one million people have been relocated for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.