Movements of rare all-white panda spotted in China

Infrared camera image taken on April 20, 2019 shows an all-white giant panda in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Xinhua)

CHENGDU, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Infrared cameras have captured footage of the world's only all-white panda approaching a mother panda and her cub in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the reserve management authorities said on Saturday.

In the video recorded at the end of February this year, the all-white panda walked towards the mother panda and the cub resting in a tree hollow and signaled to interact. However, the mother panda didn't leave the hollow and kept calm.

After the mother and the cub left the hollow, the all-white panda came back to the tree hollow and sniffed every place where the mother panda stayed.

"The cub in the footage is about one to two years old, and the all-white panda is nearly the size of an adult. At the end of February, wild pandas in Wolong have entered the estrus season, during which the female pandas with cubs can be very aggressive when an adult panda approaches or invades," said Wei Rongping, a senior engineer at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas.

"This female panda was extremely 'calm' and did not conform to the general rule. One possibility is that the female panda is the mother of the all-white panda," Wei added.

There are also another 15 video recordings of the overlapping trajectories of the three pandas in a short period, according to the reserve management authorities.

The distinctive creature burst into sight after infrared cameras captured its figure about 2,000 meters above sea level in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in April 2019.

With no spots on its body and unique red eyes, the wild giant panda was concluded to be an albino, hitherto the only one of its kind anywhere on Earth.