China Research and Conservation Center for
the Giant Panda at Wolong Reserve

What are they doing right in Wolong?
In recent years, panda natural mating at this center has been very successful. We hope to find out what factors contributed to their growing success. In Wolong, I was joined by Zoo behavior trainee, Lin Hong. Hong interviewed keepers, and I conducted behavior tests on 16 sexually mature pandas living here.

Rotation Lets Pandas Sniff Out Who Lived There Before
The Wolong pandas inhabit two main types of enclosures over the course of the year. In the fall, females are placed into one of six large areas that are literally enclosed forest with many climbing trees, thick undergrowth, steep terrain, and naturally growing bamboo. The females live there for a while so that they can scent mark the enclosure and experience a more natural environment. Near the beginning of winter, females are moved out of the forest enclosures and males are rotated in so that they can search for females and encounter their scents, like they would in the wild.

A Female Panda's Preference for a Male Is an Important Signal
Once the breeding season begins in March, all the adults are moved into smaller enclosures. Males are housed next to females so that they can interact through the cage mesh that separates them. When a female shows signs of estrus, the keepers lock the males inside their dens and allow females to wonder through the males' enclosures. If a female shows interest in a particular male, they then house them next to one another. Eventually, when the behavioral signs look right, the male and female are introduced so they can mate.

Pandas Show Individuality in Behaviors
We haven't reviewed our survey results from Wolong yet, but I saw that the pandas varied greatly in their responses to the novel object and scents. The novel object we use is a large PVC elbow joint. Our novel scent is anise (licorice) extract smeared on a brick. Some animals played with the elbow, while others investigated it more tentatively. Some were interested in the anise, rubbing it all over their bodies, while others ignored it. It's too early to say what this variation means, but it sure makes for interesting work!

Next stop, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. > next page | 4 |
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