Forest ranger records panda courtship
Print Edition
A forest ranger in Sichuan Province has recorded rare video of the courtship behavior of wild giant pandas.
A female panda sits in a tree while a number of males can be heard roaring at her in the two clips captured by Yang Jihong at the Wolong National Nature Reserve on Sunday.
The panda remained in the tree for an hour, but rushed off when Yang approached.
The odor of the female’s urine and the squeaking noises they make allow the males to trackher. When they find her, males will compete to impress her and hopefully win the privilege of mating with her. Only one will succeed, explained Huang Yan, deputy chief researcher with the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
Staff at Wolong are collecting pandas’ excrement for DNA tests to identify how many males participated in the courtship.
“Generally speaking, pandas enter their annual estrus cycles during the period from March to May. For female pandas, their estrus can last about a month, but their ovulatory period only lasts one to two days,” Huang said.
If the female panda is reluctant, the mating fails, even during estrus.
The giant panda lives mainly in the mountains of the western provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. They are threatened by habitat loss and a very low birthrate.
Sichuan was home to 1,387 wild giant pandas at the end of 2013, accounting for almost 75 percent of the total across China.
Giant pandas have a low fertility rate due to sexuality. Female pandas become pregnant only once a year and deliver at most three cubs.
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