Tao Tao, who was freed from captivity a year earlier, was found by a team of panda watchers as it was looking for food in a high-altitude forest in Ya'an City, Sichuan Province.

A researcher checks the GPS collar around giant panda Tao Tao's neck on Oct. 30. [Photo/Xinhua]

The team captured the 3-year-old and a blood check confirmed it was the one released into the wild on October 10, 2012. Medical examinations also revealed that Tao Tao had adapted well to the food and climate outside of captivity and was in good health.

The panda was released later after the checks. As of late last year, a total of 341 pandas lived in captivity around the world. About 1,590 are out in the wild in China.

There are plans to release more captive-bred pandas under a special program which aims to increase China's population of wild pandas.