Captive Adult Female Giant Pandas Body Condition Evaluation System And Nutrition Need Reference Range

There are about 2286 giant pandas(Ailuropoda melanoleuca) all over the world, 422 of them are captive. As most breeding centers locating in the mountain of low altitude, the captive giant pandas’ food are depended on selection of people’s will. For a long time, pandas are feed according to people’s experience, what is, to a certain extent, affecting the pandas’ nutrition and health. Besides, the systematic and effective standard for the giant pandas’ healthy condition is not reported. In order to know if the captive pandas are healthy or not in time, find the management problems quickly, and provide the breeding centers reasonable feeding project, we performed experiments on 3 adult female giant pandas(Ai Bang, Yuan Yuan, Mao Mao) from September 2013 to August 2014 in C hengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding(hereinafter referred to as the “base”). Finally, we established the captive adult female giant pandas’ body condition evaluation system by combining the existing breeding records with the condition inspection data. Moreover, in order to guide the feeding management of breeding centers, we also established the adult female giant pandas’ nutritional needs reference range in each season on the base of researching the giant pandas’ daytime activity rhythm and the nutrition intake and so on. The following three aspects are included in the research:1. The establishment of the captive adult female giant pandas’ body condition evaluation system.In this study, the detection of captive adult female giant pandas’ body condition and body condition inspection data have been collected to establish a simple, practical body condition scoring criteria of captive adult female pandas. Meantime, the weight scoring parameters, the shape scoring parameters, the fecal scoring parameters are included in body condition scoring system as the main evaluation indexes to determine the scores, combining with the physiological medical data. In this system, total score is 150 points, in which weight score, shape score, fecal score is 50 points, respectively. According to the different scores, the health status of captive adult female pandas are divided into four grades: the excellent rank first, total score between 140- 150; the fine are the second, total score between 130- 140, the common are the third, score between 120- 130; and the poor are the last with score less than 120 points.2. Behavioral observation and seasonal recipe composition of the captive adult female giant pandas.By studying on daily behavior of seasonal changes in daytime rhythm on 3 adult female giant pandas(Ai Bang, Yuan Yuan, Mao Mao), the result showed that feeding and resting behavior are of the highest proportion in captive adult female giant pandas’ daily behavior, of which the resting behavior are more than feeding behavior. In summer, feeding time is the shortest and is less than the time in spring and winter, significantly(P < 0.05); However, the resting time in summer is the longest, more than the time in other seasons, significantly(P < 0.01). The recipe of the four seasons are stable. In spring, Qiongzhuea Gramineae and Phyllostachys nidularia are feed to giant pandas mainly. Bambusa fargessi, Phyllostachys nidularia shoot and Pleidolaslus amarus are selected for giant pandas in summer. The staple food in autumn is Bambusa fargessi, Chimonobambusa quadrangularis shoot and a small amount of Chimonobambus pachstachys. In winter, giant pandas eat all types of bamboos. O verall, the time of eating Bambusa fargessi and shoots of the captive giant panda is the longest.3. Captive adult female pandas’ nutritional needs reference rangeWe conducted feeding and digestion experiments on the 3 experimental animals a whole year and established the captive adult fe male giant pandas’ nutritional needs reference range by analyzing nutrition content of food, the food intake, defecation and nutrient intake and its like. The total nutrient intake range of captive adult female giant pandas are as follows, Dry Matter(DM): 2064.21g/d- 5626.29g/d, Crude Protein(CP): 357.90g/d- 698.81g/d, Ether Extract(EE): 72.00g/d- 196.33g/d, Crude Fiber(CF): 467.07g/d- 1574.86g/d, Gross Energy(GE): 39.58MJ/d- 108.80MJ/d, Calcium(Ca): 4.18g/d- 21.15g/d, Phosphorus(P): 6.21g/d- 12.8g/d. The digestible nutrients intake are as follows, Digestible Dry Matter(DDM): 949.34g/d- 3049.17g/d, Digestible Crude Protein(DCP): 267.03g/d- 483.25g/d, Digestible Ether Extract(DEE): 51.48g/d-126.12 g/d, Digestible Crude Fiber(DCF): 128.60g/d- 773.90g/d, Digestible Energy(DE): 18.90MJ/d- 59.91MJ/d, Digestible Calcium(DCa): 2.17g/d- 6.88g/d, Digestible Phosphorus(DP): 4.10g/d- 7.56g/d.4. Protection and management suggestions in captive giant pandaIt benefits the healthy growth and reproduction of giant panda to carry out the body condition check. In order to accurately adjust feeding scheme in time, we evaluate the body condition of giant panda based on weight, feces, shape parameters, combining with blood biochemical indicators of detection as well.In general, captive giant pandas’ feeding pattern is "concentrate supplement(buns, cookies, milk) + roughage(mainly bamboo, bamboo shoots)". Moreover, of the same amount all the year round. In fact, the types of roughage are so different in each season that the proportions of concentrate supplement and roughage are different significantly on the basis of dry matter. Therefore, captive center should set the amount of concentrate supplement according to different seasons and the kind of roughage.We advice that nutrient content of feeding bamboo are detected at regular intervals so that breeding centers could guarantee the feeding food can meet the nutrient requirement of giant panda. In this study, We found that during spring and summer, when mainly feed on bamboo shoots, a serious shortage of calcium intake is presented to giant panda. So calcium supplements should be considered.