A wild giant panda was recorded on camera on Sunday in Jiuzhai Valley National Park in Sichuan province for the first time since a devastating magnitude-7 earthquake struck the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017.

The footage, recorded at 8:42 am at an altitude of about 3,000 meters, shows a panda skillfully ducking under a boardwalk railing and strolling into the bushes.

The area where the panda was spotted has abundant water and grass resources, providing an ideal habitat for the species, according to the management bureau of the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area.

The panda is estimated to be between 2 and 3 years old and weighs around 50 kilograms, according to experts from the park's biodiversity monitoring station. It appeared to be in good physical condition.

Jiuzhai Valley National Park is located in Sichuan's Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture, part of the Minshan Mountain range on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is well-known for its spectacular waterfalls, lush forests, serene plateau lakes, and karst rock formations.

Through years of ecological restoration and systematic conservation efforts following the earthquake, the park has gradually restored its forest, wetland, and shrubland ecosystems, re-establishing a safe, stable, and suitable environment for giant pandas and other rare wildlife, said the management bureau.