A RARE all-white panda has been captured on camera in a nature reserve in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the reserve management authorities said on Saturday.
The panda was captured in mid-April by an infrared camera about 2,000m above sea level at the Wolong National Nature Reserve, the authorities said.
The panda has no spots on its body and its eyes look red. It was crossing the forest at the time when it was captured on camera.
According to Li Sheng, a researcher with the School of Life Science at Peking University, the panda is an albino and is about one to two years old.
The white panda, a rare all-white individual in wild pandas, looked strong and had a steady walk, implying that the genetic mutation may not have quite impeded its life.
“Next, we will set more infrared cameras in this area to observe its growth and activities to see whether it has any relationship with the giant panda population in the surrounding areas,“ said Duan Zhaogang, secretary of the committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the administration of the nature reserve.
In order to better protect the ecosystems, the Wolong nature reserve has been using infrared cameras to monitor the distribution and activities of wild animals in its seven demonstration areas.
Previously, some rare brown giant pandas were located in China’s Qinling Mountains. The cause of the brown fur colour was also considered as genetic mutation by some researchers.
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