Chengdu, May 5 (Anyuan, Long Tingting) Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve Management Bureau released on the 27th that an infrared trigger camera at an altitude of more than 27,2300 meters in Wolong, Sichuan Province recorded for the first time the world's only white giant panda and a pair of giant panda mother and son in the same frame, and the giant panda mother is most likely also the mother of the white giant panda.
According to reports, since May 2019, after Sichuan Wolong released a picture of the white giant panda that was still a cub at the time, the staff of the reserve tracked and monitored it for four years, and it has grown up healthy under the protection of the local protection department. In the video footage: One evening at the end of February, near the narrow tree hole, a pair of giant panda mother and son are playing comfortably, the giant panda mother leans on the tree hole to enjoy grinding her teeth or rubbing her head, and the cubs under the tree are curious and attentive to nibble on the "hair collector" left by the researchers. Not far away, a "bear" shadow quietly approached the tree hole, and the bamboo bush gradually opened up, revealing a giant panda with a white body. The mother panda first noticed and issued a very short warning, and the bold panda cub did not hesitate to pounce, seeing that the situation was not good, the white giant panda made a "bleating" sound while retreating, signaling to them that they wanted to get close. After watching the cub chase the white giant panda away, the mother panda calmly continued to rub and tickle, and remained "calm" the whole time, and it did not take half a step out of the tree hole.
Another video shows that four minutes after the mother panda left, the white giant panda returned to the front of the tree hole and stayed for more than one minute, carefully sniffing every place where the mother panda stayed. Ten minutes later, the final video recorded the panda cub sniffing carefully before returning to the tree hole, which lasted for more than two minutes. During this period, an infrared camera 4 meters away from the tree hole also recorded the giant panda cubs looking along the white giant panda footprints.
In response to these images, Wei Rongping, a professor-level senior engineer at the China Giant Panda Conservation Research Center, said: "The cubs in the picture are about 1 to 2 years old, while the white giant panda is close to the size of an adult. At the end of February, Wolong has entered the wild giant panda estrus season, when adult giant pandas are approaching or invading, the giant pandas with cubs will generally show strong aggression, and will rush forward to roar fiercely to expel them, and even fight against them. This giant panda mother is extremely 'calm' and does not conform to the general rules. There is a possibility that this giant panda mother is the mother of the white giant panda, and the mother smells the child's smell and feels safe, so that she can behave so peacefully. According to previous field tracking studies, the mother panda and her child spend a lot of time in an overlapping nest, and the individual giant panda who lives independently from the mother will go home to visit the mother many times in three to four years, it will show constant goodwill and want to be close, often the mother will silently accept or gently drive it away, and its siblings will show more willingness to chase and play with it. These are also more in line with the subsequent developments recorded by the infrared camera, and the white giant panda showed great favor, but was firmly rejected by the mother. ”
Li Sheng, a researcher at Peking University's School of Life Sciences, said, "Our infrared camera recorded some interactions and exchanges between this white giant panda and other giant panda individuals. Although nature has given it a special appearance, it does not seem to affect its normal behavior and socialization, this white giant panda not only has a rich and comfortable life, but also has established good interaction with other giant panda individuals in this area, so it seems that this white individual has survived well in the population and in this natural environment. This also shows from the side that the habitat of Wolong's giant pandas is particularly high, not only has sufficient food resources, but also provides a safe habitat for wild giant pandas, which is the embodiment of the continuous conservation effectiveness of the reserve since its establishment 60 years ago. ”
"For this rare white giant panda, we set up a special research group and carried out special monitoring, and after countless studies and judgments, layout and adjustment of infrared camera sites, through four years of monitoring, we basically mastered the activity rules of this white giant panda. It appears much more frequently in spring, that is, in the season when the giant panda is in heat, and we are now conducting a more systematic study of it from the microscopic level, collecting its feces and hair, and further analyzing the relevant biological information of the white giant panda through DNA testing, and we hope that through this investigation and experimental detection, we can find out whether the white giant panda has its companions in this area, or what is the condition. Tan Yingchun, executive of the Sichuan Wolong White Giant Panda Conservation Research Project, introduced. (End)