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Pure White Giant Panda Found in NW China
A pure white giant panda was found at Foping Nature Reserve in the Qinling Mountain range in northwestern China recently.
This was the fourth white giant panda spotted in the region, which has an elevation of 1,700 meters.
The white panda was discovered by a group of 12 visitors to the region. "I saw the white panda walking through a bamboo forest and rushing into another one," said a witness, adding: "There is an opening of about 20 meters between the two bamboo forests, so we could see it clearly."
The first white was found in this area in 1990.
Foping Nature Reserve, located on the southern slope of the Qinling Mountain, covers an area of 29,000 hectares, serving as one of the largest habitats for giant pandas in China. Some 70 giant pandas, including the three brown pandas so far found in the world, live there.
The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species, with an estimated 1,000 living in the mountainous regions of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. To protect the animal, which is dubbed China's "national treasure," the government has set up 33 nature reserves, covering a total area of 1.6 million hectares.
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