Mammal lab report on giant panda communication for vertebrate zoology course at the University of Central Arkansas

1. Giant Panda Communication
Leah Evans & Lillian McEntire

2. Giant Panda -
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Geographic range: China - Very fragmented range
between 2000-3000m
Habitat: Does not build permanent dens, but seek shelter in trees in caves.
Also, unlike other bears, it does not hibernate, but descends to lower
elevations in the winter months.
Diet: Very strict energy budget! If they’re moving, they’re typically foraging.
Giant pandas can spend >12 hours feeding per day. Bamboo makes up
99% of the panda’s diet, although only 17% of the energy is extracted from
the plant’s leaves and stalks. (Their extra digit on hand aids in tearing the
bamboo while foraging.) To protect the digestive tract from it’s nutritional
source, their stomach walls are very muscular and gut is covered in mucus
to protect from splinters).Other foods besides bamboo giant pandas eat:
fruits of plants (like kiwi), small mammals, fish, & insects.
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species
/giant_panda/panda/where_panda_lives_habitat/

3. More background...
Closest relatives in AR: Grizzly Bear & Black Bear
Breeding season: March-May
Parental investment: Embryonic development lasts 1.5 months.
Altricial young (born blind, helpless, and covered in a thin layer of fur.)
Following baby panda birth, mothers will position babies into
suckling position. Mothers will play with their cubs, and Sometimes
mothers will wake up sleeping infants to play. A cub is typically weaned
from mother at 46 weeks and may stay with its mother for up to 18
months.
Typical lifespan in the wild: 10-15 years
Typical lifespan in captivity: 30-34 years
Known predators: humans. Enemies in the past may have included
animals like tigers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a
rticle-2195104/How-pandas-like-pee-
tree-doing-handstand-mark-
territory.html

4. Vocal communication
● When sexually receptive, females
will increase vocalization (bleating
sound)
● They will also increase scent
marking
● Can make up to 11 different
sounds
● Bark to intimidate
● Some other sounds:
○ Growling
○ Huffing

5. Bleating panda
sound

6. Giant panda
mating call

7. Baby panda
sounds!

8. Tactile Communication
& Communication through
Coat-color
Mothers will wake infant giant pandas to
play with them.
Baby pandas will approach moms to
play as well.
Pandas are pretty solitary besides
mother-cub duos in the wild.
Tim Caro, Hannah Walker, Zoe Rossman, Megan Hendrix, Theodore
Stankowich (2017). Why is the giant panda black and white?
Behavioral Ecology. Published online on 28 February 2017 before print.
doi:10.1093/beheco/arx008

9. Mom & baby
giant pandas
playing in
captivity

10. Twin
pandas
playing with
mother :)

11. Chemical Communication
● Anogenital
gland releases
a substance
with aromatic
compounds
● These waxy
secretions of
scent will last 3
months

12. “...the male that
pees the
highest wins…”

13. Neighboring
pandas
checking
trees for
others’
scents and
leaving their
own behind
by rubbing
their heads
on the trees
Treading the
ground &
poop also
left behind
as marking
Scent reveals age,
sex, & condition of
neighboring
pandas

14. References
Tim Caro, Hannah Walker, Zoe Rossman, Megan Hendrix, Theodore Stankowich (2017). Why is the giant panda black and white? Behavioral
Ecology. Published online on 28 February 2017 before print. doi:10.1093/beheco/arx008
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/panda/where_panda_lives_habitat/
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ailuropoda_melanoleuca/#communication
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2195104/How-pandas-like-pee-tree-doing-handstand-mark-territory.html
https://sciencing.com/pandas-communicate-4567356.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2017/03/08/why-are-giant-pandas-black-and-white/#11b824f9657e
http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~mmaduro/seminarpdf/Swais_04-chem_comm_chapter.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223922554_Giant_pandas_discriminate_individual_differences_in_conspecific_scent
http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~mmaduro/seminarpdf/Swais_04-chem_comm_chapter.pdf