Giant pandas living in captivity may be suffering from a type of “jet lag,” according to a new study.
Animals, like humans, have a circadian rhythm: an internal biological clock that is regulated by signals from the environment and dictates when to perform certain activities, such as sleeping and eating.
But when environmental cues don’t match those of their natural habitat, pandas can begin to behave more erratically, which could have a negative impact on species already in danger of extinction, according to a study published Monday in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
“Animals, including humans, have evolved rhythms to synchronize their internal environment with the external environment,” the study’s lead author, Kristine Gandia, a doctoral student at the University of Stirling in Scotland, said in a statement.
“When internal clocks are out of sync with external cues such as light and temperature, animals experience adverse effects,” he said. “In humans, this can range from jet lag to metabolic problems and seasonal affective disorders.”
He said he sought, along with 13 other scientists, to see how a change in their natural environment would affect giant pandas, explaining to CNN that jet lag occurs when there is a “potential lack of ability to fully adapt to conditions and cues.” “environmental”. ” – not because someone is changing time zones.
Gandia said she and her team decided to focus on the effects of a change in environment on giant pandas because they live cyclical lifestyles: Migrations occur in spring because pandas eat a specific type of bamboo and have to look for shoots. Mating also occurs in spring.
A team of 13 psychologists concluded that giant pandas kept in captivity may suffer from a form of “jet lag.” NurPhoto via Getty Images
Their treatment in captivity also lent itself well to the study, Gandia said.
“Pandas are very good animals to focus on. “They are very popular in zoos and there are many that have ‘panda cameras’ so we can see how their behavior changes at different latitudes,” he explained.
The researchers monitored 11 giant pandas at six different zoos around the world, all of which were born in captivity.
The study did not specify which zoos the researchers were examining giant pandas in, but it was divided between those that were at the same latitude as their natural habitat in China and those outside that range.
As part of the study, observers watched the pandas every month for a year and noted how their behavior changed.
Researchers studied 11 giant pandas at six different zoos around the world, all of which were born in captivity, over the course of a year. Getty Images/iStockphoto
“We essentially recorded the entire behavioral repertoire of the giant panda, trying to account for behaviors that are positive, neutral and negative indicators of well-being,” Gandia told CNN.
“This would then include behaviors such as play, grooming, and sexuality-related behaviors as positive behaviors; and drinking and urinating/defecating as neutral animal behaviors; and various abnormal/stereotyped behaviors such as negative behaviors, with pacing being the most common,” he explained in an email to CNN.
The 13 researchers found that each of the pandas showed three peak times of activity during a 24-hour period, including nighttime, just as they would in their natural habitats.
Sexual behavior was only recorded during daylight hours in adult pandas, which is likely an easier time for them to find a mate in the wild.
But those living in captivity outside their home latitude were less active, and Gandía speculates that may be because daylight hours and temperature cues differed from those in their natural habitat.
“When giant pandas are housed at higher latitudes, meaning they experience more extreme seasons than they evolved for, this changes their overall activity levels and abnormal behavior,” he said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn