GLOBALink | What is so special about brown giant panda?

XI'AN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Meet Qi Zai, the only captive brown giant panda in the world.

Born in 2009, he has markings that look like faded ink.

Life has not always been easy for Qi Zai. When he was barely two months old, he was abandoned in Shaanxi's Qinling Mountains, but luckily, he was found by forest rangers.

Brown giant pandas have only been seen in the wild on a handful of occasions, and Qi Zai is the only one in captivity.

The world's first brown giant panda was discovered in 1985 in the Qinling Mountains.

36 years later, a wild brown giant panda was caught on camera this April, the 10th time the extremely rare panda subspecies has been spotted in the area.

So far, all recorded photographs of wild brown pandas were taken in the area.

The Qinling giant panda is a subspecies of giant panda first recognized in 2005. It has a smaller and rounder skull, shorter snout and less fur than the more familiar Sichuan subspecies.

According to panda experts, brown pandas could be the result of genetic mutations or atavism and further study is needed on the topic.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service