Photo: Screenshot of online video

A team of rangers recently achieved a major milestone in their work, collecting more than 2 million pieces of wildlife data within an area of 153 square kilometers over 10 years in Laohegou mountain, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, a major habitat for 13 giant pandas and other wildlife such as golden monkeys and takin. 

A TV program documenting the team's daily work has gained a lot of attention on Chinese social media recently, with netizens expressing respect and admiration for the rangers, who have been dubbed the wild pandas' "bodyguards", and include Gan Mingdong, a 28-year-old panda ranger.

Gan was reported to have patrolled the mountains for more than 300 days each year. His main job is to use the intelligent animal protection system to record the tracks of pandas and other animals, and remove hunting traps. 

Gan impressed netizens with his positive spirit and love for his work, a job that is arduous and often leaves him with injuries. He said he shows the videos of the animals he films every day to his kid, who is proud of his panda guard father. 

"I want future generations to have the chance to see wild pandas, not just hear about them when they don't exist anymore," he said in the program, with a smile on his face.