Effects of Different Nursing Methods on the Behavioral Response of Adult Captive Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Simple Summary

Throughout the life history of giant pandas, we have found that captive and wild giant pandas have significantly different parenting experiences. To summarize the breeding history of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding over the past 30 years, we found that the parenting experience is related to the natural mating ability of captive male giant pandas. However, there are few studies on the effects of different nursing methods on the behavioral expression of captive giant pandas, mainly focusing on the behavioral development of captive giant panda cubs, but the effects on the behavioral adaptive expression and stress of adult females have not been reported. From the perspective of adult female giant pandas in the nursery period, this experiment attempts to clarify whether different nursing methods in the cub-rearing period will affect the behavioral adaptive expression of the dams. We aim to understand whether confinement mode may cause stress problems in adult captive giant pandas, and provide a scientific basis for improving the design parameters of nursery pens and improving the welfare level of captive giant pandas. Based on the current results, we find that, in the current captive environment, singleton and parent rearing are kinds of nursing methods that are in accordance with the characteristics of the natural nursing of giant pandas and have little effect on the mother–cub relationship and welfare of captive adult female giant pandas.

Abstracts

Nursing protocols in giant panda conservation breeding programs often strongly deviate from the natural cub-rearing behaviors observed in situ, potentially affecting the expression of species-typical behavior in both dams and cubs. To evaluate the effects of different nursing methods on the behavioral expression of captive adult female giant pandas, it is necessary to understand such effects due to unnatural human interference to improve the welfare of giant pandas in captive breeding conditions. In this study, we selected nine captive adult female giant pandas managed with different nursing methods as the research objects. Behavioral observations were performed during the early nursing period (1–90 d). Compared with the artificially assisted nursing method, captive adult female giant pandas who adopted the singleton and parent nursing method exhibited a significantly longer time engaged in mother–cub interaction behavior and invested a significantly smaller portion of their daily time budget on pacing and railing-directed behavior in the three months postpartum. However, no significant differences in the percentage of time exhibiting maternal behaviors were noted between the different nursing methods. In conclusion, in the current captive environment, singleton and parent rearing was a kind of nursing method that matched natural cub-rearing characteristics and was less stressful for captive adult giant pandas.