



With all the care of loving parents, these giant pandas gently handle a young cub.
But look a little closer and you will see the pair are in fact of scientists attempting to ensure the helpless youngster is not affected by human influence.
The workers were pictured in China's Sichuan Province carrying out a physical examination of the four-month-old cub while wearing costumes that would not look out of place at a charity fun run.
Taking its temperature before returning it to its seemingly natural habitat where it is monitored by hidden cameras, the researchers are helping to prepare the cub for its eventual release into the wild.
The release would be the first of its kind for the Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre for the Giant Panda, situated in Wolong National Nature Reserve.
It is the latest step in china's efforts to conserve the critically-endangered animal, whose numbers total an estimated 2-3,000 in the wild.
