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GUANGYUAN, China, March 7, 2023 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

On March 3rd, staff in the Tangjiahe zone of Giant Panda National

Park witnessed a precious moment of a pair of giant pandas "dating" from

treetop.

The Tangjiahe zone of the Giant Panda National Park is located within Qingchuan

County of Guangyuan City of Sichuan Province. According to the personnel who

saw and photographed this moment, at the time a giant panda was leisurely

sunbathing on a branch, while another giant panda slowly climbed up the tree,

then began to claw its own buttock as it approached the sunbathing panda, and

subsequently rubbed itself against the tree trunk to shake the tree and attract

the other panda's attention.

Experts explain that the giant panda was using its circumanal glands to leave

its scent. The giant panda on the left on the tree is a male, while the one on

the right is a female, and the behavior described above is closely related to

the giant panda's mating season.

People have been able to capture pictures of giant pandas at the Motianling

area in the Tangjiahe zone of the Giant Panda National Park for eight straight

years. Among these records are the process of wild giant pandas searching for

mates, or moments when they experienced rut or when they fight. This increasing

number of videos and photos provides crucial information conducive to studying

the reproductive behaviors of giant pandas in the world, and further cements

the Tangjiahe area of Guangyuan City of Sichuan Province as an important

habitat of the giant panda.

A member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since

2014 and a part of the first group of IUCN Green List of Protected and

Conserved Areas, Tangjiahe boasts the highest probability of encountering a

rare and endangered animal in low altitude area worldwide. Tangjiahe is noted

for its big elevation difference and diverse climate, which are reasons why the

area is home to a wide range of animals and plants, including wild animals like

giant panda, takin and Temminck's tragopan. Infrared cameras deployed within

the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve have recorded many proofs of Tangjiahe's

biodiversity, for instance, the 1,286 effective data collected by

one infrared camera between March 29th and September 1st, 2021, which showed 17

species of wild animals.

Source: The Tangjiahe zone of Giant Panda National Park

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=438656

   Caption: A moment of courtship captured on camera