Giant pandas discriminate individual differences in conspecific scent

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 57; no. 5; pp. 1045 - 1053
• Main Authors: SWAISGOOD, RONALD R., LINDBURG, DONALD G., ZHOU, XIAOPING
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 01.05.1999; Elsevier; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
• Subjects: Ailuropoda melanoleuca; Animal behavior; Animal ethology; Biological and medical sciences; Endangered & extinct species; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Mammalia; Odors; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Sexes; Smell; Vertebrata; Fissipedia; Chemical communication; Carnivora; Animal communication; Endangered species; Sex; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Social interaction; Familiarity strangeness; Individual recognition; Olfaction; Perception; Captivity; Odor
• DOI: 10.1006/anbe.1998.1070
• ISSN: 0003-3472

The functions and mechanisms of chemical communication are well established for many species of small mammal amenable to investigation, but systematic research is virtually absent for large, rare species. The present study marks the first systematic investigation of chemical communication in the endangered giant panda,Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Using a habituation–discrimination paradigm, we sought to determine whether giant pandas can discriminate between scents from different individuals on the basis of chemical cues afforded by female urine and male anogenital gland secretions. Pandas habituated to successive presentations of scent stimuli from a single individual, as evidenced by diminished responsiveness across five habituation trials. In the discrimination test for male anogenital gland secretions, subjects of both sexes investigated a new individual’s scent significantly more than a familiar scent to which they were previously habituated. Neither sex significantly discriminated novel from habituated female urine, although a strong tendency to differentiate the stimuli was evident. We also found that the sex of the subject affected patterns of response. Females showed a significant preference for male anogenital gland secretions, whereas males investigated both types of scent stimuli equally. In general, male subjects were more responsive than females to conspecific scent, especially female urine. This study provides clear evidence that giant pandas distinguish individual odours emanating from male anogenital secretions, and implies that these odours contain individually distinctive chemical signatures. These results have implications that can be applied to the conservation and management of this species.