High mortality of infants and Hand-rearing programme

As well as the difficulty in getting giant pandas to conceive in captivity the problems of captive breeding are compounded by the high level of infant mortality. Only 39 percent of the Chinese and 40 percent of the non-Chinese captive born cubs have survived infancy, compared for example with an average of 83 percent for the brown bear and 78 percent of the black bear. In part this can be attributed to the extreme helplessness of the young, although a primary cause of these figures is the inability of the mother to look after two young when twins are born. Only 16 animals from 58 born in captivity by 1986 as twins or triplets have survived today (26%), and a major improvement in the survival rate of newborns could be achieved if the rejected cub in twin pregnancies could be reared by hand. All attempts at hand rearing have so far failed, but there has been little progress towards introducing a coordinated programme of research. An attempt was made to hand-raise one of the twins born at China Wolong Natural Reserve, Lu De (green fields) in September, 1991. However, Lu De died at the age of 160 days.

To develop a technique for the hand-rearing of giant pandas will not be easy. For the first few days of its life the cub will lie quietly only if it is gripped firmly by the mother. A hand-reared cub will need to be held constantly if it is not to be quickly exhausted by its own struggles. In China some cubs that have been hand reared have survived only a few hours, but others have lived for up to 45 days. These cubs may have eventually died as a result of being fed an inappropriate diet of cow’s milk or due to pneumonia.

In September 1991, the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda cooperated with Beijing Zoo to hand raise one abandoned captive born infant (Lu De) which survived to 160 days. The efforts to hand raise Lu De were part of the Ministry of Forestry’s 3-year research plan for the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. This work was supervised by Protection Branch of the Ministry of Forestry in Beijing. In order to fully implement this project, the Ministry of Forestry and the World Wild Fund International provided funding, equipment and technical expertise. This cooperation resulted in great progress in hand rearing techniques and a world survival record for a hand reared infant giant panda.

Appendix: Summaries extracted from the study of hand raising Lu De

Initial incubator temperatures are 33-35 degrees Celsius and humidity levels at 65-75%. As the baby develops, and hair coat grows both temperature and humidity are decreased. At two months of age, when a dense hair coat has grown in, it is time to change to an enclosure out of the incubator. To prepare for this the incubator temperature should be gradually decreased. While the environment changes are being implemented, it is important to observe the infant and how it is adapting to these changes.