A rare all-white panda has been caught on camera roaming the forest in southwestern China.
The spotless, red-eyed animal was photographed while trekking through a nature reserve in southwestern Sichuan province, according to the Chinese official news agency Xinhua.
The panda is an albino between one to two years old, said Li Sheng, a researcher specialising in bears at Peking University.
Experts said it showed albinism existed among wild pandas in the region.
They plan to install infrared cameras in the area to track its movements.
More than 80 per cent of the world's wild pandas live in Sichuan, with the rest in Shaanxi and Gansu province.
The giant panda is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
This is one of less than 600 Giant Panada's living in captivity. Source: AAP
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, there are fewer than 2000 left in the wild and fewer than 600 in captivity.
Massive efforts are underway in China to save the panda and encourage the breeding of the slow-reproducing animal.
