In order to investigate the change of reproductive behaviors and understand reproductive strategies of both male and female red pandas, one-year behavioral observation was conducted through the focal sampling method in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding from December 1999 to November 2000. Our results indicated that reproductive behaviors showed significant differences between the estrous and non-estrous seasons. Frequencies of the rubbing anogenital, sniffing and licking marking were much higher in estrus than in non-estrus. Bleating only appeared in the estrus and can be regarded as an estrous indicator. The result also demonstrated that both male and females applied different reproductive behavioral strategies. Frequencies of activity, rubbing anogenital, licking and sniffing marking, and bleat were much higher in the male than in the female. However, those of resting and investigating were much lower in the male than in the female. This indicated that the male was more active than the female during the estrus and might imply that the male acts mainly as an estrous message sender, and the female as a message receiver in the estrous season.
We studied the behavior responses of 13 captive female and 11 male red pandas Ailurus fulgens to the odors (anal glands section, feces, urine and body odor) of the same sex and opposite-sexby pen swapping from January-March 2005. The results displayed that both genders displayed a dramatic increase in activity, rubbing, licking, sniffing (anal glands section, urine, feces) and urination, when entering pens filled with odorants of other individuals. All animals showed a marked preference for odors of the opposite-sex. This indicated that red panda of both genders could identify gender on the basis of chemical cues, and could distinguish self-generating odors and other individuals’ odors. However, it was not clear whether feces conveyed individual and sex information.
Nursing behaviors of the captive red pandas were quantitatively studied by focal sampling methods in Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding from July to August, 2000. The results indicated that frequencies of activity and rest were low in the first three days after birth, and became higher as time went by. The frequency of licking cub was higher in the first day after birth and deserting cub was only observed in the seventh day. Frequencies of some behaviors, such as rest, licking cub, cherishing cub, sniffing cub, returning to shed and deserting cub, differed significantly in different phases of the first month after birth. Frequencies of licking cub, cherishing cub, sniffing cub and returning to shed were significantly higher in the pre-nursing period than in the mid-nursing and post-nursing periods. However, frequencies of rest and deserting cub were significantly higher in the post-nursing period than in the per-nursing and mid-nursing periods. The degree of maternal behaviors can be inferred from degree that the mother exposes her babies to the environment and the time that the mother leaves her shed.
