giant pandas (Photo : REUTERS/DARREN WHITESIDE)
In an effort to reveal the secret life of pandas, a new study followed five giant pandas using GPS collars at the Wolong Nature Reserve in China. According to the results, giant pandas are actually social and flirtatious and not always solitary.
Published in the Journal of Mammalogy's latest issue, the study proved that the iconic black and white bears have rich and complex social lives, which is contrary to the common perception that they are not social creatures, Discovery News has learned.
In the study, Vanessa Hull of Michigan State University and her colleagues placed GPS collars on five giant pandas, which include the adult male named Chuan Chuan, the young female named Long Long and the three adult females named Mei Mei, Pan Pan and Zhong Zhong.
According to Hull, monitoring the movements of the pandas on the computer screen was "fascinating."
Hull's co-author Jindong Zhang said it was a great opportunity to have a glimpse at the panda's secretive society, which has been closed off to humans in the past.
Since the elusiveness of the pandas make it difficult to observe them in wild, the authors of the study performed an electronic stalking by making the five pandas wear GPS collars and releasing them back into the reserve.
According to the researchers, two of the adult females spent time together with the young female panda for long periods during the fall that is not mating season for pandas, The Hoops News reported.
Moreover, the adult male panda often came back to check on the females habitually although he was found to be traveling much more than the adult females do.
