Wild giant panda spotted in Sichuan forest park

CHENGDU - A wild giant panda was spotted in a forest park in Southwest China's Sichuan Province Wednesday afternoon, the fourth of such encounter this year.

"The panda was about seven or eight meters from me, and was quickly out of sight," said Zhang Zhongyan, a forestry worker who was driving on a forest highway at around 7:20 pm Wednesday.

Zhang said the adult panda swiftly crossed the road, climbed over a ridge about a meter high and disappeared into an arrow bamboo forest.

"The whole process lasted no more than 40 seconds," Zhang said.

A substantial increase in forest coverage and post-quake restoration of habitat have boosted the local wild panda population, said Jiang Yiquan with the bureau.

Baoxing County, which administers the area, is home to an estimated 181 wild giant pandas.