CHENGDU, April 24 -- A pair of wild giant pandas have been photographed in Wolong Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the park's administration said on Friday.

The couple were found by nature reserve staff and recorded on video on April 15. In the video, the male panda was circling a tree on which a female panda was basking in the sun.

The staff later moved away in fear of interrupting the couple.

It was the first time that the reserve had captured images of a pair of wild giant pandas in the mating season.

The giant panda lives mainly in the mountains of China's southwestern province of Sichuan and northwestern provinces Shaanxi and Gansu. They are threatened by habitat loss and a very low birthrate.

Only about 1,600 still exist in the wild, and some 300 live in captivity around the world.

Most females enter estrum in April and May, some in the fall, and usually give birth to one baby at a time.