A wild panda ate a lamb in a sheep pen in Baoxing county, Sichuan province.

The attack on the sheep pen is surprising because wild pandas eating animals instead of bamboo is rare.

The lamb was part of the flock of Gou Bihua, a farmer in Jianlian village.

On Feb 9, Gou Bihua's nephew Gou Jia who was visiting his uncle's home wanted to have a look at the lambs. When Gou Jia and his father Gou Bixue approached the sheep pen about 1.5 km from Gou Bihua's home, they heard screams coming from the sheep and lambs.

"They found a wild panda holding and gnawing on a lamb," said Liu Mei, an employee of the general office of the Baoxing county forestry bureau.

"As the news of the panda feasting on a lamb spread, more and more villagers arrived at the scene. The panda was terrified at the sight of so many onlookers and fled," she said.

Pandas often visit bamboo rich Jianlian, but this is the first time a panda has attacked a domestic animal, villagers said.

In 1869, Armand David, a French missionary, was the first European to discover the giant panda in Baoxing, and introduce the animal to the West.

Baoxing is home to the State-level Fengtongzhai Nature Reserve and boasts 38 wild pandas according to the third national panda census conducted in 2000.