Panda seen walking across road in Sichuan Province

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Visitors caught a rare glimpse of a wild panda crossing the road in southwest China's Wanglang Nature Reserve.

From the video footage and the photos taken by the visitors, the panda was found hiding behind a roadside tree just meters from the visitors' vehicle and staring at the visitors. A few seconds later, the panda slowly walked across the road and then ran into the woods.

Li Tianming, a member of reserve's staff, told China News that the lucky visitors felt so excited when they saw the panda. Even so, the visitors lowered their voices and watched it from far away, trying not to interrupt the wild animal.

Adult giant pandas are largely solitary, rarely getting together except in the mating season, which runs from March to May. During this time, tourists will have more chances to come across pandas at the park, Li said.

Giant panda are China’s treasured national mascot and mainly live in Sichuan Province, with some in neighboring Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. According to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) census in 2014, there are 1,864 pandas alive in the wild; another 300 live in captivity.

There are 335 wild pandas in the county, accounting for one-fifth of the total number of the wild pandas in the world, according to WWF in 2014. /VCG Photo‍

Sichuan Province, the home to most of the country’s wild pandas, has seen a rapid increase in tourism in recent years. Pingwu County, located in the southwest of Sichuan, is one of the main panda habitats in China.

According to World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) last census in 2014, there are 1,864 pandas alive in the wild. Another 300 live in captivity. /VCG Photo

According to Meng Songlin, the head of Pingwu County, there are 335 wild pandas in the county, accounting for one-fifth of the total number of the wild panda in the world. Around 57 percent of the county area has been made into a nature reserve for pandas. The county hopes that tourism can help increase the local economy.

The Bank of China pledged 10 billion yuan (1.58 billion US dollars) to establish a vast panda conservation park in Sichuan Province, partly for the well-being of the animals and partly towards alleviating local poverty, according to China Daily.