Over 10 rescuers, three hours and one tranquiliser dart ... that’s what it took to save a trapped panda in China

A giant panda had to be tranquillised while being rescued by police after becoming trapped below a dam at a hydroelectric power station in southwestern China.

Forestry police spotted the female panda at about 4pm on Tuesday as it stood on a steel walkway beside a river next to the dam in Sichuan province’s Wolong National Nature Reserve, Thepaper.cn reported.

The animal fell into the river as rescuers tried to help it climb up to the top of the dam, which was four metres above the walkway, the report said.