A motorist was paw-sitively stunned to encounter a giant panda in the wild while she was travelling on a mountain road.
The unnamed woman came across the rare sight while driving along Jiajin Mountain, in south-western China’s Sichuan Province at around 12:00am on 9th August.
In a video that she shared on Douyin – China’s version of TikTok – the black-and-white bear is seen rushing up a hill next to the road.
The panda then reaches a metal fence and manages to jump over it in one swift move.
Shortly afterwards, the animal disappears amidst the brush.
The clip attracted widespread attention, receiving nearly 30,000 likes and more than 3,000 comments – many of which were netizens admiring the woman’s luck.
One user titled ‘How to get rich’ said in a comment: “It’s so unfair, I went to a zoo and spent hundreds of dollars to see them, and you actually got to see one for free.”
Another user titled ‘Chen Xiansen’ wrote: “I’d really like to take it home with me.”
And user ‘Fragrant’ said: “The joy of seeing it in the wild can’t be the same joy you’d experience at a zoo.”
The panda bear (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a species that primarily inhabits the mountainous regions of China.
Its diet is mainly comprised of eating bamboo, but it has been known to eat other plants, fruits, and occasionally small animals.
The species has been classified as “vulnerable” by the IUCN due to habitat loss and low reproduction rates.
