SWD-2024-03-06-090542-040 vertical.tif
Wild Giant Panda, female, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, Giant Panda National Park, Sichuan, China.
One of extremely few good photos of a completely wild panda, taken by a foreign photographer during the last 10 years
-- The panda, a young female, suddenly popped up from the bamboo thickets, crossed our path in the snow, looked at us for a second and then continued up in the bamboo on the other side of the path.
A max 4 sec encounter, at 6-7 meters distance, shot with my 400/2,8.
So no frames with the whole animal in it, nor any habitat shots, unfortunately.
But an extremely rare occasion
All shot within 4 seconds ( after 10 days of serious hiking, in snow, 10-15 km per day) in the mountains in the upcoming Giant Panda National Park, in Sichuan, China.
The animal, a young female, is in perfect condition, and just briefly crossed my path through the bamboo.