Forest ranger encounters with wild giant panda in NW China

LANZHOU -- A giant panda was spotted by a forest ranger while he was patrolling in the Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

Han Wei, the forest ranger, said he encountered the giant panda, which was only 10 meters away from him on Tuesday. He took a video showing the panda was strolling by a stream and then disappearing into the forest.

"This video is so precious," Han said. "Although we are often called 'guardians of pandas' as forest rangers, it is still rare to come across a giant panda in the wild."

Han said some forest rangers have never seen a wild giant panda. The reserve set up infrared cameras in the wild years ago to capture images and videos of wild giant pandas.

Baishuijiang Nature Reserve is home to the largest number of wild pandas in China. Among the 132 wild pandas in Gansu, 110 live in the reserve, according to the fourth national survey of giant pandas.