pandas are actually pretty gregarious, study findscsis.msu.edu/sites/csis.msu.edu/files/csm - pandas...
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Pandas are actually pretty gregarious,study findsPreviously thought to be solitary animals, giant pandas actually spend a decentamount of time together, according to a new study from Michigan State University.
By Rowena Lindsay, Staff Writer MARCH 30, 2015
Giant pandas, thought to be hermits of the animal kingdom, are actually
quite social (http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/5031/20150329/the-
charming-tale-of-giant-pandas-why-these-wall-flowers-are-the-life-of-the-
party.htm), according to a study published in the Journal of Mammalogy.
A team of researchers from Michigan State University put GPS collars on
five giant pandas from the Wolong Nature Reserve
(/csmlists/topic/Wolong+Nature+Reserve) in China
(/csmlists/topic/China). The pandas Pan Pan, Mei Mei, Zhong Zhon, Long
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Long, and Chuan Chuan were captured, given the collars and released back
into the wild where their movements were logged every four hours for two
years, from 2010 to 2012.
Pandas were previously thought to be solitary animals, but the GPS trackers
found that the three female pandas Pan Pan, Mei Mei, and Long Long spend
long periods of time together throughout the year. The male panda Chuan
Chuan traveled longer distances but frequently returned the group of
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"Pandas are such an elusive species and it's very hard to observe them in
wild, so we haven't had a good picture of where they are from one day to the
next," coauthors of the study, Vanessa Hull and Jindong Zhang said in a
press release (http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/5031/20150329/the-
charming-tale-of-giant-pandas-why-these-wall-flowers-are-the-life-of-the-
party.htm). "This was a great opportunity to get a peek into the pandas'
secretive society that has been closed off to us in the past.”
By tracking the pandas’ movements,
researchers also found that pandas return to
the same locations to feed up to six months
after having vacated an area, suggesting that
the animals remember particularly good meals
and return when the bamboo has grown back.
Very little was previously known about the
behavior of pandas, as they are a highly
endangered species due to habitat
fragmentation, climate change, and human
interaction.
Only 1,846 pandas are estimated to be living in
the wild, although this total is up from 1,000 to
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The Chinese government does not typically allow researchers to put GPS
collars on pandas, since they are under state protection. But Dr. Hull hopes
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