Giant Panda. It took me 13 years and 10 trips to finally get good enough pictures of a wild Giant Panda. Most reserves where you could try to find a wild Giant Panda have been closed to tourism over the years. The pictures above (and below) are from a Panda a guide found up in a tree. I ran up the mountain to try to get close. By random luck, I happened to stumble across this one. It smelled the air above the bamboo and actually charged me! When it got way too close, I clapped and yelled at it and it backed off into the bamboo again.





Above is yet another Giant Panda which we found WAY up in a tree far off.
Secret location within Sichuan Province, China March 2024


Above is the incredibly poor picture I took back in 2011 on my first trip.
Changqing Nature Reserve - China March 2011


Years ago, my wife and I were allowed to sit with and meet a panda from a breeding program at a zoo. Here is the video of this visit.
Secret breeding center, China February 2017



Above is a video of a wild Giant Panda from a camera trap left high up a mountain on a ridge covered in Bamboo.
Secret reserve within Sichuan Province, China January 2018