Photo provided by a forest ranger shows a wild giant panda in Wawu Mountain Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Aug. 28, 2017. A wild giant panda has been spotted on a mountain in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Wawu Mountain Nature Reserve Administration said Thursday. (Xinhua/Wawu Mountain Nature Reserve Administration hand out)
Villagers in Southwest China's Sichuan Province snapped photos of an elusive wild giant panda in the Wawushan Nature Reserve on Monday, park authorities confirmed Thursday.
A wild panda can be seen roaming the forest and sleeping in trees in the photos taken by the locals.
"One photo was taken when the giant panda was sleeping in a tree, the other taken when it ran off after discovering the villagers," said Yang Chun, director of the Wawushan Nature Reserve.
The giant pandas were probably in the reserve to look for bamboo, Yang explained.
This was not the first time that locals have spotted wild pandas in the Wawushan Nature Reserve. Wild giant pandas sightings were recorded in 2005, 2009 and 2014, before the encounter on Monday.
"We've rescued wild giant pandas twice, once in 2005 and once in 2009," Yang told the media.
Wild giant pandas were also found to be living in the area by infrared cameras back in 2014, he added.
In total, thirteen wild giant pandas are currently living in Wawushan according to the latest statistics, Yang said.
The nature reserve, with its 70 percent forest coverage, is one of the few remaining habitats of wild giant pandas, most of whom live in the mountainous areas of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.
There are currently a total of 1,864 wild giant pandas living in China, according to the fourth national survey on giant pandas.
