The elusive giant panda (<i>Ailuropoda melanoleuca</i>) conservation is a possible success story in the making. Habitat loss, population fragmentation, agriculture expansion, livestock grazing, road construction, and other distrubances have divided the wild population into isolate populations in six Chinese mountain ranges. Giant pandas uses volatile chemical cues to determine identity, gender, and sexual receptivity of conspecifics across fragmented habitats. With isolated populations still at risk for extinction, novel methods for the detection of giant pandas would benefit conservation efforts. We hypothesized that free-ranging giant pandas have unique volatile chemical profiles detectable in air. Therefore, we aimed to collect volatile biogenic compounds produced by free-ranging giant pandas residing in the Wolong Nature Reserve (Sichuan, China) through field air analysis/solid phase microextraction (FAA/SPME). SPME fibers were secured approximately 1m above the ground to trees that appeared to have previous marking activity. Trail cameras were mounted across from the sampling location to confirm the presence of giant pandas. Volatile compounds were analyzed via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS). Trail cameras showed visits from masked palm civet, Asian badger, and giant panda. A single giant panda performed scent marking behavior at one of the sampling locations. The abundance of seven compounds were elevated in samples collected from the tree visited by the giant panda compared to the control. Three of these compounds (Ethane, 1,1-dinitro-; Octane, 4-ethyl-; 2(1H)-Pyridinethione, 3-ethoxy-6-methyl-) were only found in samples collected during the giant panda visit. Identification of the volatile compounds that free-ranging giant pandas use to communicate has the potential to provide valuable knowledge of population dynamics and communication across isolated populations.

Field air SPME analysis of free-ranging giant pandas in Wolong nature reserve

256th National Meeting (2018)

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