We had always known pandas to just be adorable, bamboo-eating animals.
A new study has proven that there’s more to the panda than we think.
The recent study, which was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Mammalogy, supports the theory that pandas are not the solitary animals we once thought they were, but instead are very social and even flirtatious, according to Discovery News.
“Pandas are such an elusive species and it’s very hard to observe them in the wild, so we haven’t had a good picture of where they are from one day to the next,” stated co-author Vanessa Hull of Michigan State University in a press release.
Researchers were able to get to know more about the lives of pandas by attaching GPS collars to five giant pandas in the Oolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, according to UPI. Researchers reportedly followed three adult females, Pan Pan, Mei Mei and Zhong Zhong and two young bears, female Long Long and male Chuan Chuan.
24 months of tracking these bears and their daily activities showed that pandas are actually quite friendly with one another, even spending extensive amounts of time together.
“Pandas seem to be quite happy to have other pandas near,” Stuart Pimm, a biologist at Duke University, told New Scientist.
He added, “They’re not charging around defending mutually exclusive territories.”
Scientists reportedly found that three of the pandas gathered and remained in the same areas for several weeks in the autumn, outside of the mating season.
“Sometimes the pandas were within 10 or 20 meters of each other, which suggests the pandas were in direct interaction,” stated Hull.
The male panda that the researchers followed, Chuan Chuan, reportedly traveled much more than the females did, but frequently came back to check on them.
The study also revealed that pandas reportedly spent their time eating bamboos in up to 30 different areas.
“They pretty much sit down and eat their way out of an area, but then need to move to the next place,” explained Hull.
