Shhh… It’s sleepy-time! Teeny-tiny wild panda cub is spotted snoozing in a tree cave when its mother is away
- Two-month-old cub was napping in a tree cave when rangers found it in China
- Its mother was nearby and howled at the researchers who immediately left
- The lead ranger said it had been his dream to come across a wild baby panda
A team of park rangers in China were treated with a pleasant surprise this week when they spotted a precious wild baby panda while surveying a nature reserve.
The tiny, palm-size cub was fast asleep as the rangers found it alone in a tree cave in south-west China’s Sichuan Province.
‘I am so lucky. This is the first time I have seen a wild panda cub so close up,’ said the leader of the team excitedly.
The tiny panda was found by a team of park rangers at a nature reserve in Sichuan last Sunday
Researchers said the cub was about two months old and it was about the size of a walkie-talkie
The leader, 32-year-old Sha Ma Niu Bu, added: ‘(Seeing a wild panda cub) is the dream of many, but it has happened to me. It is such a pleasure.’
Sha Ma Niu Bu and his 15 colleagues were carrying out annual research at the Mei Gu Da Feng Ding National Nature Reserve last Sunday when they came across the precious animal.
He said it was a rainy day and the cub’s mother was in the area.
After the team stopped to take pictures of the cub, they heard the panda mother howling in distance. He said it was likely that the panda mother had noticed them near its cub.
They team decided to leave at once in order not to disturb the cub and to stay safe.
Wild pregnant pandas often choose tree caves as their nest before they give birth, according to Sichuan Online.
Sha Ma Niu Bu and his colleagues were carrying out annual research in the nature reserve
The baby panda was said to be around two months old and weigh five to six kilograms (11 to 13 pounds). It was discovered in a tree cave 50 centimetres (20 inches) above the ground with a 80 centimetres (31 inches) wide entrance.
The tree, which was dead, was located about 30 metres (98 feet) from a source of water.
Mei Gu Da Feng Ding National Nature Reserve is situated in the high mountains of Sichuan Province, where most of the world’s giant pandas live.
A total of 22 wild pandas had been spotted in the 50,655-hectare park before the cub was found.
This is the first time a wild panda cub has been found in the nature reserve.
What do you need to know about panda cubs?
When panda are born, they’re hairless and pink. Their black-and-white coats only start to grow when they are about five months old
Most panda cubs are born in the months of June, July and August.
When it is born, a baby panda is hairless and pink. It starts to have a black-and-white coat at around six months old.
A panda cub typically weighs 100-200 grams (four to eight ounces) when it is born. At China’s Chengdu Panda Breeding Centre, when a panda is born overweight, special care will be given by the keepers.
A baby panda is fed with breast milk from its mother. It starts to eat solid food, such as bamboo, when it reaches one year old.
Cubs do not open their eyes until they are six to eight weeks of age and are not mobile until three months old.
Panda cubs were born with soft fingernails which will grow to be thick and hard claws when they grow up. At about five to seven months after birth, cubs are ready to climb trees.
Source: Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, People’s Daily, San Diego Zoo
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