Infrared cameras capture wild giant pandas eating, playing in thick snow in Sichuan

A charmingly naive wild giant panda sat and ate leisurely in the snow before taking a walk on a fallen tree in a protected area in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The cute scene was captured by an infrared camera installed in the protected area.

Another infrared camera in the area recorded a wild giant panda sliding down a snowy slope and turning in a circle in thick snow, covering its face and back with snow.

Rangers of the protected area in Heping village, Muzuo Tibetan township, Pingwu county, in Sichuan Province, recently carried out their first patrol of the year and brought back infrared cameras installed in 10 locations throughout the area. These cameras captured still images and videos of giant pandas during the period between Nov. 10, 2021 and March 6, 2022.

In recent years, as Pingwu county has made steady progress in ecological protection, more and more wild animals have been spotted by local people, who live in harmony with nature.  

A wild giant panda plays in the snow. (Photo/Courtesy of the publicity department of the Pingwu county committee of Communist Party of China)