The giant panda is a global symbol of wildlife conservation that is threatened by historic and current habitat loss. Despite a great deal of research on the physiology, reproductive biology, and diet of pandas in the wild and in captivity, there is little information on wild panda mortality. Here we integrate previously unavailable data on the mortality of wild pandas. We report on three recent phases of panda mortality: deaths due to bamboo flowering in the 1970s and 1980s, surprisingly extensive poaching in the 1980s and 1990s, and a parasitic infection over the past few years. Our analyses suggest that the current most significant threat to wild panda survival is disease due to extraintestinal migration (visceral larval migrans) by an ascarid nematode. We demonstrate that the probability of death of wild pandas being caused by this disease increased significantly between 1971 and 2005 and discuss the possible factors leading to the emergence of this disease.

The spatial and temporal distribution of food resources can profoundly affect foraging decisions and prey selection, potentially resulting in shifts in diet in response to changes in resource availability. The masked palm civet ( Paguma larvata ) has long been regarded as a dietary generalist that feeds primarily on fruits and small mammals. Both types of food resources may vary spatially and temporally and the diet of P. larvata is expected to change in response to variation in the availability and distribution of these resources. To address the effects of such variation on foraging by masked palm civets, we studied a population of P. larvata inhabiting a highly heterogeneous habitat in central China consisting of primary forest, selectively logged forest, logged forest, broad-leaved and coniferous forest plantations, and cultivated farmland. Available food resources included wild fruits, cultivated fruits, leaves, plant cortexes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals, molluscs, and arthropods. The abundance of these food categories varied significantly among seasons and habitats and civets altered consumption of these categories according to their temporal and spatial availability. The diversity of items consumed also varied significantly among seasons and habitats. From June to October, wild fruits were the main food of civets in forest habitats, whereas cultivated fruits were the main food in farmland. In contrast, from November to May, civets in forested habitats consumed primarily rodents and birds. Concordant with these changes was a shift from foraging in primary forest (November-May) to foraging in logged forest and farmland (June-October) that appeared to be associated with the availability of fruits. These results demonstrate the ability of civets to change their diet, both spatially and temporally, in response to changing food resources. To better understand how foraging behavior of civets varies with resource availability, similar studies should be conducted in tropical environments characterized by year-round availability of fruit.

No abstract