The only white giant panda in the world has ＂stood on its own feet＂
Xinhua News Agency, Chengdu, January 15 (Reporter Yu Li) On the 15th, the Giant Panda National Park Administration released the image of the only white giant panda in the world. Since the infrared camera recorded this white giant panda in the wild for the first time in May 2019, by the end of 2020, the infrared camera controlled by Wolong, Sichuan Province photographed this white giant panda twice in February 2020, and the picture was extremely precious.
The white giant panda in the picture is either walking in the snow or "meditating". It sat down close to the tree where the infrared camera was installed, with its back to the camera all the time, like a quiet "little girl", and thought thoughtfully for more than 3 minutes. Three days later, the white giant panda passed through the dense forest and the small river ditch, appeared in another infrared camera on the ridge 1 km away, and then it took about 10 minutes to reach the foot of the mountain. The infrared camera at the foot of the mountain recorded its leaving back.
According to Tan Yingchun, executive of Sichuan Wolong White Giant Panda Protection Research Project, judging from the images taken by infrared cameras, this white giant panda has grown up a lot from May 2019 to February 2020, with a strong physique. Compared with the whole body white when I was a child, the hair of its limbs in adulthood still shows a faint golden color. In the two records in 2020, this white giant panda was active alone. From this, it is estimated that it is about 3 years old now and has left its mother to "stand on its own feet".
According to Li Sheng, a member of IUCN’s bear expert group and a researcher from Peking University College of Life Sciences, the white giant panda in the video has a steady pace, a strong body and a bright coat, so it can be seen that it is a healthy wild giant panda. Albinism is a rare phenomenon, but it exists widely in various groups of vertebrates. "Albinism" is usually caused by gene mutation of animals, which hinders the synthesis of pigments in animals and appears white, golden white or light gold in external form. Simple "albino" mutation does not necessarily affect the survival of individual animals. This white giant panda can grow up to about 3 years old, which shows that it has basically adapted to the living environment and is in good living condition.
Li Sheng said: "Judging from the fact that it has not been photographed in this area since then, it may have migrated and spread from its birthplace to its surrounding habitats. Judging from the habit of wild giant panda females spreading out, it is likely to be a female individual, who will leave her mother’s home and look for a new habitat when she becomes an adult. In order to further understand the situation of this individual and the distribution of albino mutant genes in the local wild giant panda population, it is necessary to expand the monitoring scope and use DNA testing and other technologies to find more evidence. "
Apart from the change of coat color, it is still inconclusive whether the albino mutation of the white giant panda will have other collateral effects on its physiology and health. Further study on this issue will help to further enhance human understanding of the ancient giant panda species, and scientifically evaluate the impact of albino mutant genes on the genetic diversity of giant panda wild population, which is of great significance to the cause of giant panda protection.
It is reported that about 15 people from Sichuan Wolong White Giant Panda Research and Protection Team participated in the project. It took one year to deploy high-density gridded infrared cameras around the 15 square kilometers where the white giant panda was first discovered, in order to further study and evaluate the specific impact of albinism symptoms on the individual’s survival and adaptability through continuous tracking.
From December 2019 to November 2020, more than 71,100 wildlife image files were obtained through infrared camera monitoring. In addition to the giant panda, other animal species recorded in the preliminary statistics include: Sichuan golden monkey, Tibetan Emirates monkey, red panda, black bear, leopard cat, pig badger, yellow-throated mink, water deer, hairy-crowned deer, wild boar, Sichuan antelope, Chinese impala, Chinese porcupine, rock squirrel, red-bellied pheasant, red-bellied golden pheasant, etc. Among them, the frequency of giant panda, Sichuan golden monkey, yellow-throated mink, water deer, crested deer, wild boar, Chinese impala, Chinese gazelle, Chinese porcupine and red-bellied pheasant is very high.