Tibetan town captures photos of 'panda deity'

A wild panda has been captured in photos for the first time in a Tibetan town, known for panda worship and panda dance, in China's Sichuan province.

Photographs and video footage, taken on May 17 and 20, show an adult panda in a bamboo forest, Xinhua quoted the forestry office in Caodi Township as saying.

According to a legend, once a panda God appeared and taught the Tibetans to use a herb to cure a deadly plague.

Residents of the town don panda masks, and mimic chewing bamboo and climbing trees in a millennium-old dance to scare away evil spirits and pray for blessings.

In 2013, it was confirmed that at least seven wild pandas still live in the town after panda feces were found. This led to the installation of the infrared cameras.

Located near the scenic Jiuzhaigou Valley, a World Heritage site, Caodi has a natural reserve for endangered species including pandas and snub-nosed monkeys.

Giant pandas are one of the world's most endangered species. About 1,600 live in the wild, mostly in the mountains of China's Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces while more than 300 live in captivity.