An elderly giant panda, almost in a coma due to cold and hunger, was rescued on Tuesday afternoon at Xiling Snow Mountain in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Burying his face in the snow, the exhausted panda was found lying under a cableway near a ski run on the snowy mountain.

Qing Song, a ski coach at the resort, accompanied by three friends, was very excited to find the giant panda at around 2 pm on Tuesday.

Tourists quickly gathered at the spot after hearing of the news, falling over each other to have a look at the endangered animal that can normally only be seen in zoos.

Workers at the ski run soon kept visitors away from the panda in order not to frighten the animal who was obviously ill.

With a frostbitten right front foot and numb with cold, the panda was gathered in a net and carried to a warm room at the management office of the resort.

According to animal experts who arrived later on Tuesday at the mountain, the giant panda is more than 20 years old, the equivalent of a human of 60.

The 80-centimetre-tall panda weighs only 60 kilograms, which indicates that he was very weak.

(China Daily January 8, 2004)