Pandas could be wiped out just as conservationists think they are recovering, warns study

The 'panda survival crisis' remains serious, scientists say, despite the animals' recent reclassification as 'vulnerable' rather than 'endangered'

Ian Johnston Environment Correspondent 

Giant pandas could be wiped out despite conservation efforts being hailed as a success, according to a new study.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently decided the bear was no longer officially “endangered” but was merely “vulnerable” to extinction.

This still means the animal faces as “high risk of extinction in the wild” – rather than the previous “very high” chance – but the new research suggested its true plight was perhaps being underestimated.

Continued  

Pandas don't like it hot: Temperature, not food is biggest concern for conservation

Date: June 6, 2016

Source: Drexel University

Although a new Drexel study found that the metabolism of giant pandas is higher than previously reported, there is more than enough bamboo in nature to keep pandas healthy and happy for years.

That is, until rising global temperatures kill the plants off.

"The crisis caused by the bamboo die-off in the 1980s has subsided," said James Spotila, PhD, L.D. Betz Chair Professor of the Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science in Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences. "The bamboo supply in nature reserves is not the limiting factor for giant panda populations and reintroduction programs."

Reintroduction of captive giant pandas to nature is the ultimate goal for scientists like Spotila. Knowing that China's existing reserves -- and even other areas in the wild -- could support the appetite of many more pandas makes the animals' reintroduction much more feasible.

Spotila was part of a team of researchers working at the Chengdu Research Base in China, home of roughly 150 giant pandas, found that the pandas' metabolism was actually just a little below what would be expected for a mammal of their size. Their rates were on-par for bears and came in just a little below seals, kangaroos and deer. Past research placed the pandas' metabolism at a much lower rate.

At the metabolism rate determined by the research team, pandas would need to eat 29-33 pounds of bamboo per day to sustain themselves. Still, the researchers are confident that China's bamboo supplies are more than adequate for the pandas' newly confirmed hunger.

The study's findings were published in Scientific Reports under the title "Metabolic Rates of Giant Pandas Inform Conservation Strategies." Drexel graduate student Yuxiang Fei served as lead author. Rong Hou, Dunwu Qi and Zihe Zhang of the Chengdu Research Base served as co-authors, along with Frank Paladino of Indiana Purdue University of Fort Wayne.

Although Spotila and Fei's team is confident that bamboo supplies, as they stand, can support the pandas, the threat of climate change dampens their hope of increasing panda populations in the wild.

Continued … 

Panda feces study provides insights into microbiome, reproductive troubles

Date: May 18, 2016

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

A stomachache can put a real damper on your love life -- especially if you're a giant panda.

One minute it's breeding season and you're happily dining on fresh bamboo leaves, the next you're left clutching your stomach while your gastrointestinal lining passes through your system. It exits your body as a thick, gooey, gelatinous mass.

This is exactly what seems to happen to captive giant pandas, and the researchers behind a new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology are beginning to suspect it may play a role in their struggles to reproduce.

"We think they are sloughing off the internal mucous membrane of their gastrointestinal tract and because of this, they get really sick, which coincides with gestation," says Garret Suen, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of bacteriology and co-author of the panda poop and feeding behavior study. "The pandas stop eating and they produce these painful, membranous fecal pellets."

No one quite understands why these gelatinous masses, called mucoids, happen but Suen and his co-authors believe bamboo may be a factor. Evolutionarily speaking, giant pandas are not built to eat a sole diet of bamboo. As bears, their digestive systems are designed to break down meat and small amounts of plant material, yet in the wild and in captivity these bears are exclusively herbivorous. The study suggests this may lead to digestive troubles that could negatively affect panda pregnancy. It motivated the researchers to take a closer look at the gut bacteria involved.

"Gastrointestinal diseases are a major cause of mortality in wild and captive pandas but scientists understand very little about their digestive process," says co-author Ashli Brown Johnson, state chemist and Mississippi State University associate professor of biochemistry, molecular biology, entomology and plant pathology. "By studying the microbial community in the panda's gastrointestinal tract, we gain a better understanding of panda nutrition, which could help improve the health and reproduction of the endangered species."

Continued ...

Panda expert claims the international breeding programme has failed

Panda expert Dr Sarah Bexell has said the international breeding programme to save giant pandas has failed 

Rebecca Flood 

Sunday 17 April 2016

A panda expert has said the captive breeding programme designed to save pandas should be scrapped because it is "giving humanity false hope". 

Dr Sarah Bexell, director of conservation education at the Chengdu Research Base, admitted in a frank documentary that the international effort to save the monochrome bears has not delivered the expected results.

Starting in 1987 with six pandas they rescued from the wild, the programme has since produced 400 offspring bred in captivity. 

But only five have been introduced back into the world, of which only three have survived. 

In the BBC Horizon documentary "Should We Close Our Zoos?", Dr Bexell says: “We’ve learned a lot, filled volumes of journals and textbooks but we have not made significant headway in terms of conservation.

“So I guess right now we would almost have to say it has been quite a failure and even though many of these projects even were considered successful for short periods of time, they’ve lost ground.

“Should we continue them? Right now I’m feeling no because I’m really worried that it’s sending the wrong message to humanity. It’s giving humanity false hope.”

She blamed the world’s ever-increasing population and consumerism for the steady decline in panda numbers. 

Continued ...

Pandas hear more than we do

Sensitivity beyond human range may have conservation implications

Date: March 22, 2016

Source: Zoological Society of San Diego

A study published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation may help field conservationists better understand the potential for human activities to disturb endangered giant pandas in native habitats. Using pandas located at the San Diego Zoo, conservation scientists worked with animal care specialists to determine pandas' range of hearing sensitivity, discovering that they can detect sound into the ultrasonic range. Because giant pandas depend in large part on information transmitted through vocalizations for reproductive success, noise from human activities in or near forest areas could be disruptive.

"An understanding of a species' hearing provides a foundation for developing estimates of noise disturbance," said Megan Owen, associate director of giant panda conservation, San Diego Zoo Global. "For the giant panda, vocalizations are typically emitted in proximity to conspecifics (members of the same species), however the ability to discriminate between fine-scale differences in vocalizations is important for successful reproduction; and so, a thorough understanding of acoustic ecology is merited in order to estimate the potential for disturbance.

"In order to learn about panda hearing, researchers at the San Diego Zoo worked with giant pandas to teach them to respond, if they could hear sounds at a particular pitch and loudness, thus communicating their ability to hear across the acoustic spectrum," Owen said.

"Through this study, the pandas at the San Diego Zoo have made a significant contribution to our understanding of what may be affecting panda reproduction in habitats in China," said Ron Swaisgood, director of applied animal ecology, San Diego Zoo Global. "It is only because of the strong relationship that animal care staff have with the bears at the Zoo that we have been able to gather this information."

Continued ...

China's wild panda numbers have increased by 17% since 2003, new census reveals

But their habitat is still under threat from fragmentation, caused by physical barriers such as roads

SERINA SANDHU

Sunday 01 March 2015

They have acquired a reputation as being rather picky when it comes to sex, but giant pandas in the wild appear to have been busy. According to a new census in China, the population of the animals has gone up by 268 since 2003, taking their total numbers to 1,864 – an increase of nearly 17 per cent. The bears have also extended their territory to more than 2.5m hectares – a 12 per cent increase.

Nicola Loweth, conservation group WWF UK’s regional officer for India and China, said: “The increase in population is due to the implementation of a number of successful conservation actions by the Chinese government, nature reserve staff and local communities.”

She said that the panda population’s growth had wider benefits. “This news is not just about giant pandas. We’re also talking about their habitats. It means that very important eco-systems are being protected for a whole range of other species.”

Their numbers are thought to have been boosted by the establishment of the Giant Panda Nature Reserve Network, measures to ban logging in certain areas and steps to reduce poaching. The number of designated nature reserves has also been increased from 40 to 67 since 2003, so that about two-thirds of the wild panda population now live in protected areas.

Continued ...

Orfei Circus Accused Of Passing Off Dogs As Pandas

The Huffington Post | By David Moye

Email

Posted: 12/23/2014 7:25 pm EST Updated: 12/23/2014 7:59 pm EST

An Italian circus is facing possible criminal charges for allegedly trying to deceive the audience with two chow chows painted to resemble pandas.

Police in the city of Brescia confiscated the white chow chows on Dec. 19 from the Orfei Circus and accused the staff of painting black patches on them in hopes the customers would believe the pups were actually pandas.

"Two white furred dog cubs, a male and a female of chow chow breed, were camouflaged as pandas and shown to the public, particularly children, to take photos demanding payment," Italy's state forestry police said, according to the International Business Times.

Continued ...

Tinkering with the Tao of pandas

Date:

December 3, 2014

Source:

Michigan State University

Summary:

Good news on the panda front: Turns out they're not quite as delicate -- and picky -- as thought. Up until now, information gleaned from 30 years worth of scientific literature suggested that pandas were inflexible about habitat. Those conclusions morphed into conventional wisdom and thus have guided policy in China. But a new researcher has led a deep dive into aggregate data and emerged with evidence that the endangered animal is more resilient and flexible than previously believed.

Continued ...

Giant Pandas May Be Threatened by Forest Reform

by LiveScience Staff

Date: 08 February 2013 Time: 06:28 PM ET

There are thought to be fewer than 1,600 giant pandas in the wild today and the beloved bears' home in the mountains of China is increasingly threatened by climate change and human activity.

While China has made achievements in saving the pandas in recent years, a group of conservations says the government's plans to free up forests for commercial use could be a blow to the endangered species.

"This change puts these vital habitats potentially under threat from commercial logging, increased collection of firewood and non-timber forest products by outside enterprises, and other commercial development activities," Russell Mittermeier, president of environmental organization Conservation International, said in a statement.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/26990-giant-pandas-china-forest-reform.html

Climate Change Threatens Giant Pandas' Bamboo Buffet -- And Survival

ScienceDaily (Nov. 11, 2012) — China's endangered wild pandas may need new dinner reservations -- and quickly -- based on models that indicate climate change may kill off swaths of bamboo that pandas need to survive.

In this week's international journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences give forecast how changing climate may affect the most common species of bamboo that carpet the forest floors of prime panda habitat in northwestern China. Even the most optimistic scenarios show that bamboo die-offs would effectively cause prime panda habitat to become inhospitable by the end of the 21st century.

The scientists studied possible scenarios of climate change in the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province. At the northern boundary of China's panda distributional range, the Qinling Mountains are home to around 275 wild pandas, about 17 percent of the remaining wild population. The Qinling pandas vary genetically from other giant pandas, and their geographic isolation makes it particularly valuable for conservation, but vulnerable to climate change.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121111153722.htm

Panda Preferences Influence Trees Used for Scent Marking

ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2012) — As solitary animals, giant pandas have developed a number of ways to communicate those times when they are ready to come into close contact. One means of this communication occurs through scent marking. A recent study by San Diego Zoo Global researchers, collaborating with researchers at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science, indicates that pandas make clear and specific choices about what trees are used for scent marking.

"Variables affecting the selection of scent-marking sites included bark roughnesss, presence of moss on the tree trunk, tree diameter and distance to the trail," said Ron Swaisgood, Ph.D., co-head of San Diego Zoo Global's Giant Panda Conservation Unit.

"These choices have clear effects on the scent signal, making it last longer, be detected from further away, or otherwise enhance its communication efficiency. We are not surprised that pandas are efficient with their use of chemo-signals, as mounting evidence suggests that many aspects of giant panda life history are constrained by their energetically poor diet."

This study, which was recently published in Animal Behavior, confirms that old-growth forest and other factors like tree type are important for maintaining habitat that will support giant panda conservation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120827152045.htm