Wild giant pandas in the Wolong National Nature Reserve have embarked on their seasonal migration in search of fresh bamboo shoots.

The reserve is located in southwest China's Sichuan Province and includes parts of the Qionglai Mountains, which form the geographical boundary between the Sichuan Basin and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. 

The region's wild giant pandas are mountain-climbing masters when it comes to finding bamboo, and staff members of the reserve who trace the panda's path for research purposes at times struggle to keep up.

In order to place infrared cameras in the wild giant panda habitats, they need to climb over a dozen mountain ridges and trek for nearly 10 hours.

"It has been a four-hour journey so far. But like this kind of river, we have already crossed more than 20 rivers. We probably have more than 30 rivers to get across. It may be around 18:00 when we reach our destination today," said a conservator from the Management Bureau of Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration, who was part of a group tracking the pandas on foot.

The journey may be arduous, but for the black and white bears of Sichuan, it is worth the consistent supply of fresh bamboo.

"During this period of time, the giant pandas were tracking bamboo shoots. Bamboo grows from low to high altitudes, so the pandas follow the bamboo shoot step by step," said Liu Mingchong, a senior engineer with the Management Bureau of Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration.

The Wolong National Nature Reserve is part of the Giant Panda National Park and serves as the core of the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries. Established in 1963, the reserve is the country's oldest, largest and most renowned panda reserve, and was added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Man and Biosphere Reserve Network in 1980. 

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