Rare brown giant panda captured on camera again in Shaanxi after six years

A brown wild giant panda is captured by an infrared camera at the Changqing National Nature Reserve in Shaanxi, on Jan. 17, 2024. (Photo/Video screenshot)

(ECNS) -- Staff members at the Changqing National Nature Reserve in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have discovered footage captured by an infrared camera set up in the wild last fall, showing a healthy adult brown giant panda strolling leisurely in the snow field.

It was the first time in six years since March 2018 that a brown giant panda has been filmed, and it is the 11th recorded sighting of the animal in the Qinling Mountains region.

The footage, taken on Jan. 17, 2024, was recorded at an elevation of around 1,500 meters in Baiyangping of the reserve.

Brown giant pandas are a distinctive subset of the Qinling panda population.

This significant discovery came to light during a review of spring 2024 monitoring data for giant pandas and their habitats by the reserve's staff.

All documented brown giant panda occurrences have been within the boundaries of Foping, Yang, Taibai, and Zhouzhi counties in Shaanxi Province, encompassing the Qinling mountain region.