Friend or foe? Using eye-tracking technology to investigate the visual discrimination ability of giant pandas

Abstract

The role that visual discriminative ability plays among giant pandas in social communication and individual discrimination has received less attention than olfactory and auditory modalities. Here, we used an eye-tracker technology to investigate pupil fixation patterns for eight captive male giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca. We paired images (N = 26) of conspecifics against: 1) sympatric predators (gray wolves, tigers), and non-threatening sympatric species (golden pheasant, golden snub-nosed monkey, takin, red panda), 2) conspecifics with atypical fur coloration (albino, brown), and 3) zookeepers/non-zookeepers wearing either work uniform or plain clothing. For each session, we tracked the panda’s pupil movements and measured pupil first fixation point (FFP), fixation latency, total fixation count (TFC) and duration (TFD) of attention to each image. Overall, pandas exhibited similar attention (FFPs and TFCs) to images of predators and non-threatening sympatric species. Images of golden pheasant, snub-nosed monkey and tiger received less attention (TFD) than images of conspecifics, whereas images of takin and red panda received more attention, suggesting a greater alertness to habitat or food competitors than to potential predators. Pandas’ TFCs were greater for images of black-white conspecifics than for albino or brown phenotypes, implying that familiar color elicited more interest. Pandas reacted differently to images of men vs women. For images of women only, pandas gave more attention (TFC) to familiar combinations (uniformed zookeepers and plain-clothed non-zookeepers), consistent with the familiarity hypothesis. That pandas can use visual perception to discriminate intra-specifically and inter-specifically, including details of human appearance, has applications for panda conservation and captive husbandry.