A wild giant panda was caught on camera using a zebra crossing as it roamed about in a town in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at about 2 o’clock in the morning.
A park security guard was amazed at the sight of the panda on Thursday morning when he played back the overnight CCTV recording.
Wild pandas are notoriously shy animals, and very rarely venture into human-populated areas. But this one had somehow decided to walk through the gates of a public park in Yingxiu Township of Wenchuan County.
The wild giant panda had the good sense to use the zebra crossing.
According to China’s Xinhua news agency, the park’s manager said:
“The panda looked well and seemed to suffer no injuries in the video.”
The giant panda initially made several attempts to climb the gate, failing a few times before succeeding. It then walked down two zebra crossings and finally entered the park by scrambling across a raised flower bed.
The security guard called the police, the Wolong Nature reserve, and alerted park staff to look for the panda.
Xinhua quoted a local who said pandas had never been seen in the town before.
Panda population rising
According to an official survey, in 2013 there were a total of 1,864 giant pandas living in the wild globally, which were 268 (16.8%) more than in 2003.
Nearly three-quarters of all wild pandas in the world live in Sichuan Province.
Although 99% of a giant panda’s diet consists of bamboo, it will eat other grasses, wild tubers and even meat in the form of carrion, rodents or birds. Pandas kept in captivity may receive bananas, oranges, shrub leaves, yams, fish, eggs, and honey along with specially prepared food.
Video – Wild panda goes walkabout in Chinese town