Pandas Live on

China's giant panda census officially begins

Clockwise from top: Two researchers measure dung of a giant panda in a nature reserve. Similar work will be done when China's fourth panda census begins, within two months. Scientists say that construction of roads and railways through panda habitat sets up barriers to the animals. It isolates family groups and provokes inbreeding, which threatens the entire species. Giant pandas enjoy themselves at a research center in Ya'an, Sichuan province. (China Daily Photo)

Before venturing into the forest, Yuan Zhiwei clicked on his GPS device. He, and two team members, recorded the surrounding habitat and marked out three 1-square-meter quadrants at random, then measured the diameter and height of the bamboo branches.

The team were looking for any traces of giant pandas, such as footprints or teeth marks. They collected fresh dung for DNA tests.

Over 10 days in late June and early July, 70 forestry professionals like Yuan - a nature protection specialist - worked in 22 teams, studying the behavior of giant pandas at Wanglang Nature Reserve in Mianyang, Sichuan province. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are currently analyzing the collected data.

The project is a trial run for a national census, due to start in September or October, on giant pandas.

"Actually, this kind of census won't be very accurate," said Chen Youping, director of the administration bureau of Wanglang National Nature Reserve in Southwest China. "People can only cover a small area on foot, after all. In the end, we'll only get a rough figure."

Still, the methods are the best available.

Bamboo as a measure

The previous census, conducted 1999-2003, found that China had 1,596 wild giant pandas - 1,206 in Sichuan province, 273 in Shaanxi and 117 in Gansu. Pandas under 18 months old were not counted.

Like the previous one, the new census will calculate pandas by measuring the length of undigested bamboo pieces left in the dung. The formula is based on the assumption that each panda has a different size bite.

Scientists will also take a supplementary measure to try to identify individuals. They will test DNA extracted from cells in mucous membranes that surround undigested bamboo fragments, protecting the panda's intestinal canal from the sharp bamboo.

That test is not reliable, however, because the DNA fragments extracted from dead cells could be too short to provide distinctive information, said Fan Zhiyong, a leading conservationist and director of the species program for the World Wildlife Fund in China.

According to a paper published in the journal Current Biology in 2006, DNA tests had found 66 pandas in Wanglang, while the national census conducted five years earlier found only 27.

"We feel that the actual number of pandas in Wanglang should be around 40," Chen said. Staff members at the reserve have found three baby pandas every year since the previous census.

"I hope to preserve a nice habitat where pandas feel comfortable and become highly active during the mating season," he said. "They might go to other nature reserves by climbing over the mountain. In this way, Wanglang is contributing to the stability of the entire species."

Fu Hu video shorts from his first year

Panda Pal, Xi Shan of flickr just got back from seeing Fu at Zoo Vienna in Austria, so thought I would put together a little video as he just celebrated his 1st birthday this last August 23. 

 

Thanks to Zoo Vienna on YouTube, Lupoforme of YouTube and Xi Shan for the videos and photos.

Chengdu tells us Mei Lan is a male

What can I say, just heard about this and thanks to Zoo Atlanta for posting an update right away.  Here is the Zoo's statement. 

Thursday, September 22
We recently received some surprising news from our colleagues at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding about Mei Lan, the first giant panda cub born at Zoo Atlanta. She is actually a he, and it seems that he was incorrectly sexed when he was a cub. Mei Lan has lived at the Chengdu Research Base since February 2010, and our colleagues there have noted the appearance of testes.

Giant pandas are normally sexed as infants during early health checks. This can be difficult to do correctly, and it helps to have some practice. Mei Lan was sexed during his first veterinary exam when he was 19 days old by a staff person from the Chengdu Research Base and Zoo Atlanta staff. This is later than would normally be done at the Chengdu Research Base, and it’s more difficult to do if the cub is more than a few days old. We waited longer to do Mei Lan’s first exam, because Lun Lun was a first-time mother and we didn’t want to do anything that might disrupt the excellent care she was providing for Mei Lan.

Close examination of the anogenital area is needed to determine the sex of a giant panda cub, and a male’s testes do not descend until he is over 3 years old. Prior to this, there is no obvious external cue to sex. As a result, young giant pandas are occasionally sexed incorrectly, which was apparently the case for Mei Lan. We plan to recheck the sex of our other young giant pandas, Xi Lan and Po, during their next scheduled physical exams.

Although it’s strange for us to think of Mei Lan as a male, the good news is that this does not change how he was cared for and managed while he was growing up here in Atlanta. We all recall that his birth on September 6, 2006, was a monumental event for Zoo Atlanta, the City of Atlanta, the Giant Panda Species Survival Plan, and thousands of you, his fans, from around the world. He was the only giant panda cub born in the U.S. in 2006, and there was nothing we would have done differently if we or the staff from the Chengdu Research Base had known sooner that he was a male. He still would have been transferred to the Chengdu Research Base when he was 3 years old, and he will still be an important part of the breeding population there. So while this news does come as a big surprise, we’ll all just work on getting used to the fact that Lun Lun’s and Yang Yang’s firstborn was a son, and that son may have a bit of an odd name (Mei Lan roughly translates to Atlanta’s Beauty) for a male. I don’t think he’ll mind. I’ll bet Lun Lun knew all along. Too bad we couldn’t just ask her!
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Mammals