Rail design keeps wildlife safe

A new railway design is allowing the latest high-speed rail line to pass through national natural reserves while causing only minor disturbance to local wildlife.

The Xi'an-Chengdu high-speed rail, which opened on Wednesday, is the first bullet train to cut though the Qinling Mountains, in Shaanxi province, which are home to many rare wild animals including the giant panda, golden monkey, crested ibis and golden takin.

It is one of three major habitats for the wild giant panda, with about 345 of China's 1,864 wild giant pandas living there, according to the fourth National Survey on Giant Pandas released in 2015.