Baby pandas are beyond cute at the best of times, but a panda cub in Chengdu in China has become a viral hit after a photographer captured his confusion on camera. The footage shows the baby bear unsuccessfully wriggling around the branches, trying to pull itself up onto a ledge to rest before eventually giving up and collapsing in a seated position.
The clip show the baby Giant panda looking confused as it tries to haul itself up into the tree. The pictures and footage were taken by wildlife photographer Andy Rouse. “Photography gives me an excuse to spend time close to what I love,” he explains.
“But that is all photography is, my love for what I do transcends anything else, which is why I always shoot ethically and is probably why I have lost a fair few opportunities to those without the same beliefs. I guess I just love animals at the most basic level. I am a well-known animal hugger and aviation enthusiast. I would do both if I weren't a photographer, as for me it's the experience and the relationship I have with my subject that defines my work.”
Giant pandas can grow to six-foot-long. The Giant panda is a vulnerable species which is threatened by continued habitat loss and fragmentation. Its low population is not helped by a very low birth rate, with around one born every two years.
“I have seen so many changes over the years and I just get frustrated that efforts to do something about it seem to take forever. We haven't got forever,” added Andy. “I wish I could do something, it frustrates me that I am absolutely nobody with no real power or influence to change anything. Yes I can take a few nice snaps and hopefully this shows why we need to save a particular species but in my mind it doesn't really make that much of a difference.”
