It was panda playtime in this reserve as a bunch of rowdy juveniles rolled around a bamboo platform grappling one another.

The two-minute long footage was shot at China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in the Sichuan province.

In the clip, the pandas paw at each other and somersault out of their enclosure as the playful fight turns in to a mass brawl.

As the brawl breaks out between the pandas, one tries to keep his distance and slowly backtracks

In the opening sequence, two of the pandas pair up - to the left, one tries to scurry up a tree

But as the panda clambers up the tree he is grabbed by a standing juvenile and dragged back to the ground

Four of the pandas then scuffle on the edge of their enclosure watched by a crowd of excited onlookers

Two of the pandas slip off the bamboo platform as the mass brawl breaks out in the China reserve

In the opening clip, one of the pandas quickly exits the fray by scurrying up a tree but is dragged back down and given a slap for his troubles.

Another who elects to stay out of the action is pounced upon by the more active juveniles and slips off the platform.

The remaining three are then caught up in a tussle with only one left standing as the victor.

The panda brawl was greeted by a mix of shocked gasps and roars of laughter from the watching crowd.

Ho Lu, 40, a panda keeper at the reserve said: 'The pandas are pretty friendly creatures really but play fighting is an important part of growing up, it prepares them for finding their place in panda society when they are older and works out a sort of hierarchy.'

Three pandas were left to battle it out on one of the bamboo platforms inside the reserve

One of the pandas breaks off leaving the last two standing to trade blows and emerge victorious

China's Wolong Nature Reserve is attempting to bring the panda population back from the verge of extinction.

At the centre, they train pandas for release into the wild.

Keepers who interact with pandas must wear panda costumes (which also smell like pandas) in order to mimic costumes in the wild.

Giant pandas are an endangered species, with about 1,600 left in the wild.