A man may lose his leg after he was attacked by a wild panda as it was chased by locals after it wandered into a village in China.

Guan Quanzhi was set upon by the panda, which sunk its teeth into his leg, as officials chased it into his land in Liziba village near Longnan City in Gansu Province.

A quick thinking villager threw a coat over the animal’s head which made it let go of Mr Quanzhi who was left severely injured. He had to have a seven hour operation to try and repair the damage.

In the last year Mr Quanzhi has spent months in hospital and had a total of eight operations. He has recently been told he may have to have his leg amputated, according to the People’s Daily online.

‘When the giant panda sunk its teeth into my leg the pain was indescribable. Blood was everywhere,’ said Mr Quanzhi.

Pandas have a ‘cuddly’ reputation but can be territorial. They have strong jaws which enable them to strip bamboo but this also means they can deliver a powerful bite.

The incident took place on March 1 last year when the panda wandered into a village near Longnan City in Gansu Province.

Locals attempted to capture the animal only for it to flee them and run into Mr Quanzhi’s land.

Mr Quanzhi, who is in his 60s, added: ‘I was working at home and saw many people running in my direction, looking closer I could see a mud-covered panda being chased.’

As the animal saw Mr Quanzhi was blocking its path he sunk its teeth into its leg until someone threw a coat over it.

The panda fled and disappeared after being seen wandering around in the mountains for more than half an hour.

Locals realised Mr Quanzhi was seriously injured and he was taken to Qingchuan County People’s hospital, which was more than 10km away, for emergency treatment.