Giant pandas have their own social network for communicating with their peers: how does it function?

Giant pandas have their own social network for communicating with their peers: how does it function? 0

Research has shown that the giant panda, long considered a solitary creature, leads a surprisingly active social life! It interacts with friends and family in a way reminiscent of status updates on social media.

During the study of pandas in the Volozhansky Nature Reserve, researchers from Michigan State University noticed the trees. It sounds unusual, but these animals leave scent signals on the wood for other individuals. As it turns out, such messages can be quite complex!

“It is clear that they exchange information through behavior related to scent marking,” says Thomas Connor, the lead author of the study.

Although scent marking is not something new, this research demonstrates that there is much more activity in panda communication than previously thought.

While pandas do not “post” conspiracy theories or share cat memes like humans do on social media, they can inform others about frequent visits to a specific area by “checking in” on a particular tree. Additionally, they leave information about sex, age, reproductive status, personality, and physical size.

The researchers confirmed their hypothesis about social networks by analyzing panda feces. Since an adult panda defecates between 40 and 90 times a day, a large number of samples were available for analysis, which also helped establish the timing of tree marking.

The team extracted DNA from the feces collected over an area of 46 square kilometers to identify individual pandas and determine if they were related to those who stopped at the same trees to “post.”

“We identified two individuals that were a certain distance apart as a group,” the authors report. “Even if they do not communicate directly and do not encounter each other physically, they can exchange information through the chemical signature of scent. This created a social network for analysis.”

By sniffing a marked tree, a panda can determine whether it has encountered this “post” before and pick up other signs such as sex, dominance, size, and readiness to mate.

Interestingly, the researchers noticed changes in panda behavior throughout the year. In most cases, the animals preferred to interact with close relatives; however, during the breeding season, the number of new acquaintances significantly increased. The scientists suggest that this is done both to mark territory, using trees as a map, and to prevent inbreeding and risky competition for a mate, which requires a lot of energy.