It’s Panda Awareness Week next week (2-7 July) and, just in case you needed to be reminded of how wonderful these animals are, we’ve got an exclusive clip of one young panda having a serious amount of fun on a wooden obstacle course at the Chengdu Panda Base in China.

Watch the video below...

Chengdu’s Panda Awareness Week (PAW) aims to raise awareness of the work being done to protect and nurture the giant panda species. Native to isolated mountain areas in China, giant pandas live in a fragmented habitat that’s heavily influenced by natural and human-caused changes to its environment.

Over the last 50 years more than 55% of the giant pandas’ global habitat has been lost, resulting in dire consequences for the species: it’s estimated that there are just 1,500 to 2,000 giant pandas left in the wild. Obviously conservation of the species through research and breeding is at the top of the agenda for the Chengdu Panda Base, now celebrating its 25th year, and other giant panda sites across the world.

With Edinburgh Zoo already playing host to giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang, the UK is the ideal place to celebrate Panda Awareness Week.

Follow the @ChengduPAW Twitter feed or use the #HugaPanda hashtag to keep up-to-date with all PAW activities, including a special event taking place on the streets of London on July 4.

Find out more about the Chengdu Panda Base at panda.org.cn/english/

Image credit: Rex and Splash