A doctor says his team have conducted health checks on giant pandas whose black eye markings are fading. He said the reason for the illness has yet to be worked out, but there are human diseases with similar symptoms.

"Xiao Ya"

Pictures posted online recently show the black fur around the eyes of several pandas at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding has turned white. The pictures went viral and have caused major concern among the Chinese public.

A famous eye doctor in China, Luo Qingli, said he and his colleagues have conducted health checks on the animals and submitted their results to the Chengdu panda base.

The base said it is taking measures to find out what had caused the fading of black fur, and it will find an effective treatment for the disease as soon as possible.

After checking the eyes of two bears named “Yong Yong” and “Xiao Ya”, the experts said the two bears had not caught Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada, a human disease.

The specific reason for the illness is still to be announced by the Panda base.