圈养大熊猫同时哺育双胞胎行为观察

2003 年,圈养大熊猫“梅梅”首例哺育成活一胎二仔,通过对其近半年的育幼行为观察,结果发现:1) 母兽主要以同时衔2 仔、同时衔和抱2 仔二种方式将幼仔抱入怀中哺育;60 d 内, 育幼姿势以坐位为主,倦卧其次, 其它姿势更少, 其中坐位随日龄增加逐渐减少, 倦卧变化不大。2) 母兽活动时间在产仔当天最多, 之后显著下降并维持在35.2 ± 0.6% 的低水平, 47 d 后再缓慢上升到108 d 后的54.8 ± 0.9% 。3) 双胞胎幼仔间哺乳的日均次数和时间无显著差异。4) 7 d 内2 幼仔“仔在母身上” 的时间占100%, 21 ～ 23 d 后显著减少, 而“母体盖仔”、“仔在母身边”和“母仔自然分离”的时间显著增加, 但“母体盖仔” 的时间在32 d 左右后又显著减少;双胞胎分别在与母兽的此四种位置变化的时间上无显著差异。5) 母兽的活动、幼仔哺乳日均次数、“母仔自然分离”在全天的日均时间分布有峰、谷变化。6) 随幼仔活动能力的逐渐增强,幼仔离“育幼窝”的距离也逐渐增加,双胞胎幼仔离“育幼窝”的远近也有差别。7)母兽分别与其雄性双胞胎幼仔玩耍的时间有显著差异,而两幼仔自玩的时间无差异,此两双胞胎自玩和一起玩耍所用时间远大于分别与母兽玩耍的时间。该研究丰富了大熊猫育幼行为内容,并为以后的大熊猫双胞胎育幼提供了可供参考的行为资料。

Observations on a captive giant panda nursing twin cubs

Captive giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) can have 1-2 cubs per litter; twins occur in 46.4% of births. In the case of twins,it is often difficult for the mother to nurse both cubs,thus she chooses one and rejects the other. In 2003, the captive giant panda “Meimei”(Stud No. 343)successfully nursed and raised twin male cubs (Longbin and Qiubin), the first known instance of this. We noted the following behaviors during the 6-month period after birth: The mother predominantly used 2 methods to pick up the cubs:holding both cubs in her mouth,and holding one in her mouth and placing the other beside her face. During the first 60 days,she nursed predominantly in an upright seated position. Her next most frequent position was lying on her side with the head and feet in contact with each other. Other behavioral positions were infrequent. The mother's activity level peaked on the day of birth and decreased dramatically to 35.2 ± 0.6% over the next 46 days. At 47 - 108 days, her activity increased to 42.2 ±0.6% and 109 - 180 days later,increased to 54.8± 0.9% . There was no significant ifference between cubs in the number of times/ day the mother nursed each or the duration of each nursing session. During the first 7 days,both cubs either leaned against the mother or were held by her (behavior B). At 7 -10 days, behavior B began to gradually decrease while three other behaviors emerged. At 21 - 23 days, behavior B significantly decreased while the behaviors of the mother covering the cubs (behavior C),remaining beside the cubs (behavior S)and being naturally apart from the cubs (behavior N)significantly increased. After 32 days,the time spent on behavior C decreased again; During the observation periods the time spent on behavior B,C,S,and N were not significantly different between the two cubs (P > 0.05). The mother's activity level,number of nursing sessions,and time spent on behavior N fluctuated daily during the observation periods. As the cubs grew stronger and more active,the distance they traveled away from the nest increased. This distance differered between the two cubs. The mother spent more time interacting with Longbin than with Qiubin. There was no difference between the 2 cubs in the amount of time spent playing by themselves. The amount of time the cubs spend playing with each other plus the time by themselves was greater than time spent with the mother. This research helped gain a new perspective on the giant pandas maternal behavior and also on the nursing and raising behavior of giant panda twin cubs.