Nearly a thousand monitoring data reflect the activity law. Wolong, Sichuan Province photographed the face of a white giant panda for the first time.
Guangming Daily reporter Li Xiaodong Zhou Hongshuang Lei Zhang
On May 27th, Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration released a series of photos and videos of the world’s only white giant panda, including its front photo and rare scenes such as its frame with a pair of giant pandas and suspected mating and fighting with another wild giant panda.
In April 2019, a wild infrared trigger camera at an altitude of about 2,000 meters captured the silhouette of a white giant panda for the first time in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province. This is the only white giant panda found so far. The reserve quickly carried out special monitoring, and nearly 1,000 effective monitoring data have been collected. The photos and videos released this time directly reflect some of the activities of the white giant panda, and also show from one side that the quality of the giant panda habitat in Wolong Nature Reserve is very high, providing sufficient food and a safe habitat for wild giant pandas.
The white giant panda is facing the photo. Photo courtesy of Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration
First release of the front photo of the white giant panda
"We have repeatedly judged the route, laid out and adjusted the infrared camera site. Through four years of monitoring, we have basically mastered the activity law of this white giant panda." Tan Yingchun, executive of Sichuan Wolong White Giant Panda Protection Research Project, said that in the past two years since the white giant panda was first photographed in 2019, all the images of this white giant panda captured by infrared trigger cameras, either walking in the snow, or "meditating", or crossing the dense forest and small river ditch, were just the back, or the hips and backs that flashed by.
In the series of photos and videos released on the 27th, the frontal photo of the white giant panda appeared for the first time.
In the "selfie perspective", the white giant panda has a serious expression. On its round, white face, pale pink eyes and pink eye sockets look intense, without dark circles, "like a giant panda who likes to go to bed early and get up early"; A circle of white hair protruding around the eyes has the effect of enlarging the eyes visually; The nose is an inverted triangle of pink, with a circle of black lines around it and a white kiss, which makes it look more serious and restrained than other giant pandas.
In the "he pats the angle of view", the eyes of the white bear cat are almost hard to open due to the reflection of sunlight in the snow, the whole body hair is golden white, it wriggles its chubby body, and the skin of its four bare feet, which should have been black, has also turned into pink white.
Another video shows that the white giant panda is covered with a layer of white snow, which blends with its coat color and falls on its eyes like natural white eyelashes. It dragged a bamboo under the tree and ate it.
"Albinism is widespread in various groups of vertebrates, usually due to gene mutation of individual animals, which hinders the synthesis of pigments in the body and appears white, golden white or light gold in external form." Li Sheng, a researcher at Peking University College of Life Sciences, said that whether this albino gene will be further transmitted in the local giant panda population needs to be observed and explored through continuous field monitoring.
Three giant pandas are in the same frame. Photo courtesy of Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration
Suspected to have photographed a white giant panda in the same frame as his mother.
A set of videos released on the same day showed that one evening, the white giant panda broke into the nest of a pair of panda mothers and children. The panda mother in the tree hole gave a very short warning, and the panda cub did not hesitate to jump up. The white giant panda screamed while retreating. After watching the cubs run away after chasing the white giant panda, the mother panda continued to tickle calmly without stepping out of the tree hole.
After 40 minutes, the white panda turned back to the tree hole alone, and the female panda took the initiative to drive away. Later, from time to time outside the screen, pandas tried to get close, and they screamed weakly. Occasionally, the mother panda stood up and gave a low roar impatiently, giving a response of driving away. There are also several images showing that after the mother panda left, the white panda returned to the front of the tree hole to smell it carefully; The panda cubs sniffed carefully before returning to the tree hole; Panda cubs explore along the footprints of white giant pandas.
"There is a possibility that this female panda is the mother of a white panda." Wei Rongping, a professor-level senior engineer at the China Giant Panda Conservation Research Center, said that the cubs in the picture are about 1 to 2 years old, while the size of the white giant panda is close to that of an adult. At that time, Wolong had entered the estrus season of wild giant pandas. At this time, when an adult giant panda approached or invaded, the female panda with cubs would show strong aggression, and she would rush forward and violently yell and expel them, and even fight with them. This female panda’s performance is extremely "calm", which is not in line with the general law. Only when the mother smells the child and feels safe will she be so peaceful.
Wei Rongping introduced that previous field follow-up studies have found that the mother panda and her children have a lot of time to live in an overlapping nest, and individuals who live independently from their mothers will go home to visit their mothers many times in three or four years. It will keep showing kindness and want to be close, and its mother will often silently accept or gently drive it away, while its brothers and sisters will be more willing to chase it. "These are also in line with the developments recorded by infrared cameras. The white giant panda is extremely good, but it is firmly rejected by her mother." Wei Rongping said.
Albino mutation did not affect healthy growth and social activities.
One day in mid-spring, a camera collected a total of 66 photos, recording the process of suspected mating and fighting between a white giant panda and another wild giant panda.
At noon, the white giant panda arrived there first, searched everywhere and stayed for more than a minute. At 15 o’clock, the white giant panda returned here again, made a "smell mark" and left. Half an hour later, the white giant panda chased a wild giant panda into the area, and then began to wrestle. This wild individual is smaller than the white giant panda, and the wild giant panda once bit the back of the white giant panda.
"March to May every year is the season for them to courtship and mate. I tend to think that they are mating." Shi Xiaogang, director of Mujiangping Protection Station of Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration, said that giant pandas are solitary animals. Generally speaking, when wild giant pandas meet or fight for territory, they mainly yell and scare, and there is less direct physical contact. This kind of fighting occurs in the breeding season, usually when pandas are courting or mating, and there is a behavior of biting their backs in the picture, which is relatively easy to happen during mating.
"In the past four years, we have collected nearly 1,000 effective monitoring data, and recorded the crossing trajectory of this white giant panda and several wild giant pandas, as well as its behaviors of eating bamboo, marking the trunk and suspected mating or fighting." Liu Mingchong, a professor-level senior engineer in Sichuan Wolong National Nature Reserve, introduced.
"We are also starting from the micro, conducting a more systematic study on it, collecting its feces and hair, and further analyzing the relevant biological information of this white giant panda through DNA testing." Tan Yingchun said.
"The white giant panda not only survived healthily, but also had normal communication and interaction with other wild giant pandas in the region. It seems that the albino mutation has not affected its healthy growth and social activities." Li Sheng said that this also shows from the side that the quality of the giant panda habitat in Wolong is very high, which not only has sufficient food resources, but also provides a safe habitat for wild giant pandas, reflecting the value and effectiveness of the reserve.
(Guangming Daily, Chengdu, May 27th)