A girl got up close with China’s favourite furry national icon – quite literally – when she fell into a fenced breeding area on Saturday (Feb 9).

Chinese news sources said a video of the red-clad little girl falling into a giant panda enclosure has gone viral online. None of the Chinese news reports mention the girl’s age.

Chinese Communist Party-linked newspaper Beijing Youth Daily reported that in the video, a panda can be seen approaching the girl after she fell into the breeding area in Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan province.

A security guard tries to save her by using a bamboo pole. But this attempt fails.

The guard then goes under the railing surrounding the breeding area and extends his arm, managing to pull the girl up.

Several tourists and onlookers surrounding the area let out cries of shock, Chinese news site Sina said.

Staff at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding told the Beijing Youth Daily that the fencing surrounding the area is quite high, and under normal circumstances no one would fall in unless they deliberately attempted to climb over it.

Sina reported that both the girl and the panda were unhurt from the incident.

The Beijing Youth Daily said the number of tourists at the Base is much higher during the Chinese New Year season.

As of 11am on Saturday, the number of real-time visitors in the park had exceeded 30,000.

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