A Sino-US research project on the conservation behavior and ecology of giant pandas in the wild has been officially initiated at Foping in Qinling Range, one of the remaining habitats for the precious animal in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The $660,000 research project will be jointly carried out by the CAS Institute of Zoology (IOZ) and the Zoological Society of San Diego (ZSSD) in US on the basis of their long-time cooperation in the past. Headed by Prof. WEI Fuwen from IOZ and Dr. Ronald R. Swaisgood from ZSSD, this study aims at understanding, over the next three years, dispersal pattern, the mating strategies of giant pandas and their consequences for an effective population size, their denning ecology and maternal care strategies and the impact of den availability on their reproductive potentials.
Giant Panda (
Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a time-honored, precious, rare and endangered animal endemic to hinterland China. A fugitive species of bears which had escaped the jaw of extinction by surviving the frigid nightmare of the Quaternary glaciers, it now becomes one of the world-famous legacies left by natural history. Its image could be seen on the emblem of the World Wildlife Fund as an eternal symbol for human protection of the endangered species in nature. In the geological history, the giant panda had been widely distributed in the reaches of the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers. Their fossils could be found even at the Zhoukoudian cave in suburban Beijing, Viet Nam and north part of Myanmar. By the last glaciation of the Quaternary about 11,000 years ago, its habitats were seen shrinking to the high mountains and deep gullies harbored in Qinling, Mianshan, Qionglai, Xiangling and Liangshan mountains in heartland China.
Due to incessant human encroachment over the past 500 years, its surviving number and native habitats were spiraling down rapidly and the its habitats were separated into isolated blocks and fragments so that the species is forced to retreat at the verge of extinction. There are only about 1,600 individuals at large across the world, all spreading in southwest and northwest China. Hypogenesis and incretionary disorder make female giant pandas hard to get pregnant. Scientific statistics indicate that 78% of the females are unable to get pregnant while 90% of the males are sterile. To stop or delay the species from dying out become an issue of world concern and difficult and urgent task for scientists. To achieve this, a deep understanding must be made on its behaviors both ecologically and genetically and, so as to take effective measures for its protection.
A transitional belt between temperate zone and sub-tropical zone in the Northern Hemisphere, the Foping Natural Reserve is situated on the sunny slope of the Mt. Taibai, the main peak of the Qinling Range and noted for its intact vegetation and well-developed bio-diversity. With the total area of up to 29,240 hectares, the region known as a cornucopian trove as a rich gene pool, which is home to 118 mosses, 97 ferns, 15 gymnosperms, 1377 angiosperms, 1,354 insects, 15 fishes, 12 amphibians, 26 reptiles, 217 birds and 68 mammals. So, it is now regarded as one of the hot spots for biodiversity conservation in the world by many international organizations.
Surveys conducted by Chinese scientists in past decades showed that the number of panda individuals in the wild registered in the reserve amounts for 35% of the total population known to us in the Qinling Range and the population density reaches one individual per 1.5 square kilometers. In cooperation with the reserve administration, IOZ scientists cooperated with the staffs of Foping Reserve have observed several times since 2003 the animal's mating and giving births in the wild. The reserve is thought to be an ideal sanctuary for the giant panda's ecological research. The two sides co-established in 2004 an outdoor research base for the giant panda in collaboration with the local government.
It is rather difficult for panda-watchers to get access to the animal, letting along to carry out long-term tracing or near-distance observation because the animal lives in inhospitable wilderness deep into dense forests in high mountains. The traditional means are always found either ineffective or completely useless. The new Sino-US project plans to adopt the most advanced technology, such as geological information system, global positioning system and molecular biology, for probing the animal's dispersal pattern, mating strategy and sexual selection, its behavioral changes when it is influenced by different ecological factors, the related mechanism concerning the impact on its population's genetic structure caused by its dispersal patterns and mating systems.
The scientists believe the enforcement of the project will be conducive to theoretically revealing of the geological distribution of the giant panda and its local processes of genetic differentiation and ecological adaptation. Practically, the project can provide necessary expertise and experience for the future captive giant panda reintroduction. To make clear the dispersal or migratory routes is also valuable for guiding the scientists to restore and update the ecological corridors.
Three years may not be sufficient for researchers to draw firm conclusions regarding many of our primary research questions, says Prof. Wei. The first three-year effort is intended as a stepping stone and catalyst for further work. The scientists will also collect data that will contribute to other long-term goals in subsequent years, for example, on reproductive ecology/life history, and carrying capacity. "We anticipate a continuation of another 3-7 years to attain many of the research results we have scored" he adds.
