Is gender male or female? How is the living environment? Revealing the world's first white giant panda
Is gender male or female? How is the living environment—— Researchers Reveal the Latest Research Achievements of the World's First White Giant Panda
More than four years ago, the Management Bureau of Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province released the first photo of a white giant panda to the public. Since then, multiple images of white giant panda activities have been captured, attracting the attention of the whole society.
This is a white giant panda captured in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan.
Wolong has established a dedicated research group to track and monitor this world's only white giant panda for four years. Is gender male or female? How is its living environment different from other giant pandas? Recently, researchers have revealed the latest research findings.
Tan Yingchun, a senior engineer at the Wolong National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, told reporters that through real-time transmission of infrared camera image data, it was actually discovered early on that the tail of this white giant panda had reproductive characteristics resembling male giant pandas. "But for giant pandas that may have genetic variations, the imaging evidence captured in the wild is not clear enough to fully support the inference of their gender. To obtain more clear biological information, genetic testing is the only way to collect feces or other biological samples of white giant pandas," he said.
However, this is not an easy task. White giant pandas usually move in high mountain canyon areas at altitudes of 2000 to 3200 meters, and workers need to trek through mountains and water for more than 10 hours to reach this area. At present, the activity area of white giant pandas has been monitored to exceed 5 square kilometers. This area not only has multiple large mammals, but also overlaps with the activity areas of other wild giant pandas. The difficulty and risk of accurately collecting fecal samples of white giant pandas are extremely high.
"We will use real-time transmission infrared camera technology and means to focus on monitoring the areas where the white giant panda is frequently active. After the real-time transmission infrared camera detects it, people will be immediately organized to go up the mountain, collect its fresh feces according to the direction indicated by the image, and then quickly send it to relevant testing institutions for analysis using gene sequencing technology. Finally, the DNA conclusion confirms that its gender is male," said Tan Yingchun.
In the real-time transmission of infrared camera images, many life trajectories of this white giant panda are presented. Liu Mingchong, Senior Engineer of the Wolong National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, said that this white giant panda often moves in the high mountain dense forests of the Wolong Nature Reserve. The survey shows that the climate in this area is mild and humid, with good vegetation and dense bamboo forests. Near a narrow and hollow tree hole here, a photo of a white giant panda and a pair of giant panda mother and son in the same frame was also taken.
"Generally, when a mother panda with cubs approaches an adult giant panda, it exhibits strong aggression. The mother panda can live in harmony with the white giant panda for a long time, and we believe it is highly likely that it is the mother of the white giant panda, which is consistent with the conclusion that the white giant panda is male." Liu Mingchong said that unlike most solitary animals that tend to be biased towards males to prevent inbreeding, giant pandas are "away from home" females who stay away from their mother, while "away from home" males usually overlap with their mother's family territory.
Li Sheng, a researcher from the School of Life Sciences at Peking University who participated in the investigation and research, said that the infrared camera also recorded some interactions and exchanges between this white giant panda and other giant panda individuals. This shows that although the white giant panda is relatively unique in appearance, it has established good interactions with other giant panda individuals in the area and lives well. From the side, it also indicates that the habitat quality of Wolong giant pandas is very high, not only having sufficient food resources, but also providing a more suitable habitat environment for wild giant pandas.
In addition, monitoring shows that in addition to white giant pandas and common colored giant pandas, there are also various large and medium-sized carnivorous animals distributed in the area, including Asian black bears, wolves, and so on. Red foxes, leopard cats, red pandas, crowned deer, and Chinese antelopes all live together in this habitat.
"For large bears like giant pandas, it is difficult for other animals to cause harm to them, except for the occasional threat posed by jackals hunting in groups." Li Sheng said.
It is reported that the monitoring and research of the white giant panda is still ongoing and in-depth, and more biological information will be released gradually after further analysis and scientific demonstration.
