A little girl who fell into a giant panda enclosure in Southwest China on Saturday was rescued by a security guard. (Screenshot photo)

To the relief of hundreds of onlookers, a young girl who fell into a giant panda enclosure on Saturday was rescued by a security guard just as three of the curious bears lumbered toward her. 

The girl, who appears to be around ten years old, fell several meters into the panda enclosure at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to a witness's phone video posted on Miaopai.com.  The girl had landed in the dry moat that separates the giant pandas' from visitors above. 

The security guard first attempted to pull the girl up with a bamboo pole, but her grip wasn't strong enough to hold her own weight. 

As the pandas approached the girl, the crowd became more anxious and the security guard abandoned his attempted rescue with the pole. He lowered half his body over the wall - losing his hat in the process - and was able to reach the girl's hand and safely pull her out of the enclosure.

Despite their cute and cuddly appearance and their affinity with human handlers when they are cubs, giant pandas can be dangerous and there have been reports of visitors to zoos suffering serious  injuries from the animals.