PARENT SESSION

DIET SELECTION BY GIANT PANDAS IN RELATION TO BAMBOO CHARACTERISTICS. Heidi A. Bissell¹, Meghan Carr¹, Julie Sims², Jennifer L. Parsons³, Robert S. Sikes³, Brian J. Rude² and John R. Ouellette¹. ¹ Memphis Zoological Society, Department of Research and Conservation, 2000 Prentiss Place, Memphis, TN; ² Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Mississippi State University, Box 9815, Mississippi State, MS; ³ Department of Biology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock, AR.

ABSTRACT- Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) subsist almost entirely on bamboo. Lacking gastrointestinal modifications characteristic of other herbivores, they have extremely low digestive efficiencies (15-30%). Pandas rely on two strategies to meet dietary needs: high intake rates and selective herbivory. Both wild and captive pandas forage selectively, although the specific cues involved in diet choice are not understood. We performed a preliminary investigation of diet selection and digestive efficiency in giant pandas and nutritional composition of bamboo, using paired selection trials and total-collection digestibility trials. Eight species of bamboo (genus Phyllostachys) were analyzed for dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, hemicellulose, lignin, ash, acid-insoluble ash, ether extract, and gross energy. Pandas consumed bamboo leaves in greater proportion than their availability, the culm or central stalk in smaller proportion than available, and little to none of the branches. Relative consumption of various plant parts changed seasonally. The nutritional composition of bamboo was highly variable between stalks of the same species as well as in different locations on individual stalks. Thus, considerations of bamboo in broad extrinsic categories such as species may fail to capture the intricacies of bamboo-panda interactions. We are coupling diet selection trials with nutritional analyses and quantification of plant secondary compounds, in an attempt to pinpoint intrinsic and extrinsic cues used by pandas while foraging. Results may be used to direct decision-making in captive animal husbandry and conservation efforts.

KEY WORDS: diet selection, nutrition, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, bamboo