Biology Commons^™

Free Mate Choice Enhances Conservation Breeding In The Endangered Giant Panda, Meghan S. Martin-Wintle, David J. Shepherdson, Guiquan Zhang, Hemin Zhang, Desheng Li, Xiaoping Zhou, Rengui Li, Ronald R. Swaisgood

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Conservation breeding programmes have become an increasingly important tool to save endangered species, yet despite the allocation of significant resources, efforts to create self-sustaining populations have met with limited success. The iconic giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) embodies the struggles associated with ex situ species conservation. Here we show that behavioural mate preferences in giant pandas predict reproductive outcomes. Giant pandas paired with preferred partners have significantly higher copulation and birth rates. Reproductive rates increase further when both partners show mutual preference for one another. If managers were to incorporate mate preferences more fully into breeding management, the production of giant …