Behaviour of Zoo-Housed Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens): A Case-Study Testing the Behavioural Variety Index

Abstract

The red panda is listed as “endangered” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, due to the rapid population decline. Improving our knowledge on the red panda biology and ethology is necessary to enhance its husbandry and breeding in zoos. Behavioural variety, intended as the presence of a wide array of species-specific behaviour, has been considered a positive welfare index in zoo-housed animals. The aim of this study was to describe the behaviour of two pairs of zoo-housed red pandas, one of them with an offspring, and to investigate the behavioural variability using the Behavioural Variety Index (BVI). Behavioural data from two zoo-living male–female pairs were collected. A continuous focal animal sampling method was used to collect individual and social behaviours of the two pairs. Forty-eight 30 min sessions per subject were carried out. For the BVI, a list of species-specific behaviours previously reported in the red panda was prepared and compared with the behavioural repertoire of the subjects of the study. First, species-specific behaviours were recorded, and no abnormal behaviour was reported. The percentages of time spent on different activities (e.g., routine behaviours, exploratory/territorial behaviours, consumption behaviours, locomotive behaviours, social behaviours, maternal behaviours) were similar to time budgets reported in the red panda, with routine behaviours (resting, comfort and vigilance) being the most performed in both pairs. Moreover, the BVI suggested that each red panda performed on average 73% of the behaviours described in previous literature on this species. In conclusion, studying the behavioural variety of red pandas in zoos can be a useful tool for assessing their welfare as well as improving our knowledge on the behavioural repertoire of a species that is difficult to observe in the wild.

Activity Patterns of Captive Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

“…Studies of wild red panda observe active activity 45-60% of the time, dependent on season [16,18], whereas our study shows panda to be less active (19-36%). A more recent study [29] found captive red panda at Rotterdam Zoo to be active 40-53% of the time, although the two pairs in the study were young breeding pairs, and perhaps best compared to the pair at Auckland Zoo (Khela and Ramesh). In captivity, panda are brought a selection of food, such as bamboo, fruits, specialised biscuits, and the occasional day-old chick or mouse.…”

“…Pasang would sleep from 1900 to the early morning hours when he would scent mark before keepers arrived. Scent marking and other exploratory/territorial behaviours are considered positive indicators of red panda health in captivity [29]. This bimodal pattern of activity during the day clearly followed keeper timings.…”

Investigating Unused Tools for the Animal Behavioral Diversity Toolkit

“…The most common method of behavioral diversity assessment was the Shannon–Wiener index with 79 individual species studied using this method, with behavioral richness (the number of behaviors observed) also appearing commonly (31 species studied) ( Table 1 ). The Behavioral Variety index (proportion of behaviors seen in captive, versus wild animals) featured in two papers [ 20 , 21 ].…”

“…The Behavioral Variety index (BVI) features in some animal behavior literature (e.g., 20,21), and has some potential in investigating animal welfare. BVI requires a full ethogram of an animal its ‘natural’ state to determine the range of behaviors it may express [ 20 , 21 ]. These behaviors are then categorized into groups—such as social behavior.…”

“…Behavioral diversity could be used to measure the impact of an intervention such as an enclosure move, novel environmental enrichment, or training effectiveness [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. While a couple of techniques have been developed specifically for captive animal research, such as the Behavioral Variety Index [ 20 , 21 ], most behavioral diversity indices have been adapted from other fields, such as mathematics [ 22 ] and ecology [ 23 ]. Thus, some indices have already been used for decades in the guise of ‘species diversity’ indices for ecological biodiversity sampling studies, or studies of animal microbiomes [ 24 ].…”