A method for encouraging maternal care in the giant panda

Zhang, G.Q.; Swaisgood, Ronald R.; Wei, Rongping; Zhang, H.M.; Han, Haewon; Li, D.S.; Wu, Li-Tzy; White, Angela M.; Lindburg, Donald G.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-2361(2000)19:1<53::aid-zoo6>3.3.co;2-0

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Infant mortality can be high in carnivores in zoos and conservation breeding centers. To illustrate, neonatal death rates (<30 days of age) have been greater than 50% for giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Xie and Gipps, 1997 cited in Zhang et al, ), African wild dogs Lycaon pictus (Ginsberg, ), maned wolves Chrysocyon brachyurus (Maia and Gouveia, ), and polar bears Ursus maritimus (Clubb and Mason, ). Several lines of evidence implicate aspects of captive management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of environmental enrichment and stereotypic behavior on maternal behavior and infant viability in a model carnivore, the American mink (Neovison vison)

Díez-León

Mason

2015

Zoo Biology

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In several species, stress compromises maternal behaviors that are important for infant viability (e.g. licking and grooming). Understanding how stress in captivity affects maternal behavior could therefore be beneficial, especially for carnivores in zoos and breeding centers where infant mortality is often high. We used a model carnivore--American mink--to test two hypotheses, namely that maternal investment and/or behavior is i. improved by environmental enrichment; and ii. compromised by stereotypic behavior. We observed 22 females raised in an indoor facility, 9 enriched, 13 non-enriched. At birth, and at post-natal day 20 when altricial infants were still fully dependent on their mothers, the following offspring variables were recorded: litter size, infant mortality, litter sex ratio (post-natal day 1), and weight. Maternal behavior was assessed by recording nest shape (post-natal day 1), and the frequency of licking and grooming (post-natal days 1-7). Non-enriched females stereotyped more, had female-skewed litters at birth, and tended to make poorer, flatter nests. Maternal licking and grooming showed large, stable individual differences, but appeared unaffected by enrichment. High levels of maternal stereotypic behavior predicted slower offspring growth, replicating previous findings for farmed mink. Nevertheless, enrichment did not significantly increase infant growth rates nor decrease infant mortality. Due to small sample sizes, our study now needs replicating, particularly to explore the potential benefits of enrichment on nest building, sex ratio effects, and the implications of maternal licking and grooming for offspring stress reactivity. Findings could then apply to endangered mustelids like the European mink.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of environmental enrichment and stereotypic behavior on maternal behavior and infant viability in a model carnivore, the American mink (Neovison vison)

Díez-León

Mason

2015

Zoo Biology

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“…In addition, the actual number of vocalisations produced for each behavioural context during the 30 s video sequences was noted. During the handling and feeding procedures, we recorded creaky sounding vocalisations and squawk-like calls (Schaller et al 1985;Zhang et al 2000;Zhu et al 2001).…”

Section: Acoustic Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are blind and deaf, but vocally very active in the first 4-5 wk of life (Schaller et al 1985;Zhang et al 2000;Zhu et al 2001). At this time, giant panda cubs have been reported to emit high rates of 'cry '-, 'squawk'-, 'squall'-and 'croak' vocalisations (Schaller et al 1985;Zhang et al 2000;Zhu et al 2001). However, no detailed acoustic descriptions of infant call types are given in the literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic Features Indicate Arousal in Infant Giant Panda Vocalisations

Stoeger

Baotic²,

et al. 2012

Ethology

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Infant giant pandas are highly vocal during the first few weeks of life, producing vocalisations that are characterised by noisy, aperiodic segments. The aperiodic character of many animal vocalisations results from irregular vibratory regimes of the vocal folds, and one proposed function of this so‐called nonlinear phenomena (NLP) in animal vocalisations is to convey information about the caller's arousal state. This hypothesis was tested in the vocalisations of six hand‐reared giant panda cubs recorded during handling and feeding procedures that had been categorised into low‐ and high‐arousal contexts based on quantified motor activity. Ninety‐three per cent of the vocalisations contained NLP, including deterministic chaos and subharmonics. Vocalisations produced in the high‐arousal contexts, however, were characterised by an increase in chaos, as well as increased call duration and x¯ fundamental frequency (pitch). These results suggest that infant giant panda vocal signals have the potential to express different arousal states. Furthermore, because giant panda cubs are the smallest placental mammal offspring at birth compared with adult size, acoustically conveying arousal state to the mother might be crucial for infant survival under natural rearing conditions.

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“…For example, it may be important to provision a new mother with her cub's odors if the cub is removed for a period of hand-rearing, a strategy we have successfully employed (Zhang et al 2000). Also, it might be possible to encourage a female to adopt a surrogate cub rejected by their biological mothers if the cub is first covered with the scent of her own cub.…”

Section: Mother-infant Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%