Two villagers have captured rare footage of a wild giant panda roaming freely on a hillside in a rural county of southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The video, shot on Saturday in the Baoxing county of Ya'an City, shows the wild giant panda climbing the slope at a calm, unhurried pace before walking into a dense forest and disappearing from view. The villagers maintained a safe distance and did not approach or disturb the animal.
Such encounters are becoming increasingly common in the county, most of which lies within the Giant Panda National Park, highlighting the improved ecological conditions of the area.
Established in 2021, the park now protects approximately 1,340 wild giant pandas alongside more than 8,000 other rare species, and has significantly expanded the panda habitat, helping to grow the wild population.
Villagers run into wild giant panda strolling on hillside in southwest China
Villagers run into wild giant panda strolling on hillside in southwest China
