Wild panda filmed for the first time breastfeeding cub

A giant panda feeds her cub in Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi province. [Photo/CCTV]

A giant panda has been filmed for the first time breastfeeding her cub in the wild, according to CCTV.

The rare footage was captured by local journalists in Foping county in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, CCTV said.

The mother and cub were first sighted resting on the upper branches of a big fir tree.

The cub, about two years old, then appeared to be hungry and wanted to feed, and her mother climbed down from the tree and suckled her cub lying on a slope.

The footage was filmed in Qinling Mountains which is home to China's largest giant panda population living in the wild.

There were about 345 giant pandas living in Qinling Mountains according to China's Fourth National Survey on Giant Pandas conducted two years ago. Area of the animals' habitat had increased from 347,000 hectares to 360,000 hectares over the past decade.