The last brown panda lived through the winter -30 degrees

The only brown panda alive in the world must cope with the long, harsh winter in China.

According to the International Business Times, although some varieties of large pandas have brown hairs, Qi Zai is the only living animal on Earth that possesses full brown fur. This 6-year-old male bear is cared for at the Wild Panda Training Facility of the Foping National Nature Reserve in Shaanxi Province, China over the past two years.

Brown pandas were first discovered in Qinling Mountain, China.(Photo: CCTV).

Previously, Nature Reserve staff provided food to Qi Zai to ensure its health to survive the harsh winter.This is the first year the animal has to struggle to survive.

Qi Zai ate 50kg of bamboo, equivalent to one person eating 25kg of chicken per day to ensure enough energy to cope with the cold weather. At the reserve, only two days in January 2016 were recorded with temperatures above 0 degrees Celsius. However, according to park staff, the panda was full of energy.

Qi Zai must fight the winter down to minus 30 degrees C. (Photo: CCTV).

Brown pandas are a new species , first discovered in the Qinling mountains in 1985. Researchers found a total of 8 brown pandas, of which Qi Zai was the last surviving individual.

So far, brown pandas only appear in the Qinling mountains. According to scientists, it is possible that water and soil in this area contribute to their distinctive brown hair color.

When Qi Zai came of age, scientists planned it to mate with a black panda.(Photo: CCTV).

"The white brown of the panda can be hereditary, the result of two recessive genes, a combination of genes, or a diluted gene," said veterinarian Katherine Feng. According to Feng, Qi Zai's mother is a black and white panda. When Qi Zai reached adulthood, scientists intended it to mate with a black panda to learn more about its hairy pigments.