Abstract
Simple SummaryThroughout 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.sNursing 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.
Highlights
The ex situ conservation breeding program has basically created self-sustaining populations and genetic diversity in captive giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) [1], from the perspective of welfare, confinement has certain disadvantages compared to the wild environment: (1) the living environment is fixed, single and the living space is small; (2)maternal deprivation during the nursing period is too frequent; (3) the feeding time is fixed; and (4) fresh stimulation is lacking, etc
We found that all behavioral data meet the conditions of normal distribution and homogeneity of variance, so we used the compare means method to compare the percentages of time engaged in different state behaviors and the frequency of stereotypic behaviors displayed by the different experimental groups of female pandas in the first three months (1-90 d) of the cub-rearing periods
Data were presented as mean ± S.D
Summary
Maternal deprivation during the nursing period is too frequent; (3) the feeding time is fixed; and (4) fresh stimulation is lacking, etc These patterns can lead to the deprivation of essential behaviors (mate selection behavior), the suppression of instinctive behaviors (natural mating behavior), and an increase in abnormal behaviors (stereotypic pacing behavior) in giant pandas [2], and can affect the full expression of giant pandas’ normal behaviors (reproductive behavior). It does not conform to the national strategy of scientific breeding and healthy breeding of giant pandas for ex situ conservation [3,4] The reasons for these problems are most likely to be related to the inability of the captive living environment to meet giant pandas’ various physiological needs (including the need for mate choice and environmental comfort), resulting in the inability to fully express their natural instincts, such as mate selection and mating [5,6,7].
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