The devastating video shows one of China’s national treasures, a giant panda, floating dead in the water.
The clip was shot by a hiker looking down on a river in Baoxing County, which is one of the seven counties under the administration of the city of Ya’an, in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan.
The adult bear is motionless with its head underwater as it very slowly moves with the flow of the water.
Officials confirmed that the video was shot on 12th April, when the river joins the reservoir that was part of the Jiajinshan National Forest Park.
Currently, experts from the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas are examining the panda carcass and indicated that drowning was a possibility, saying: “There are no obvious external injuries on the panda’s body.”
One factor against that is that giant pandas, as well as being great at climbing trees, there have also been some reports claiming that they are excellent swimmers, although the experts also admit that there are not many examples that prove swimming ability.
The China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center issued a scientific paper saying that because giant pandas live in high mountain areas surrounded by streams and rivers, and because of their size, they can usually pass through these by wading.
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They said that this was a reason not many people had filmed them swimming, but maintained that they could swim. If they get wet or after wading in a river, they shake off the water like other animals.
However, they also indicated that with their heavy fur, in deep water, giant pandas were also at risk of drowning as their first became waterlogged.
Guo Guangpu believes that the drowned giant panda is a young panda. It may have been frightened by other prey during the foraging process, or it may have been temporarily separated from its mum.
On 25th January, the relevant person in charge of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced that the number of giant pandas has increased from 1,100 to nearly 1,900, achieving “double growth” in the protected habitat area and wild population of giant pandas.
As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has adjusted the giant panda’s threat level from “endangered” to “vulnerable”.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Aloysius Fernandes, Sub-Editor: Simona Kitanovska, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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