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Knowledge of energy expenditure informs conservation managers for long term plans for endangered species health and habitat suitability. We measured field metabolic rate (FMR) of free-roaming giant pandas in large enclosures in a nature reserve using the doubly labeled water method. Giant pandas in zoo like enclosures had a similar FMR (14,182 kJ/day) to giant pandas in larger field enclosures (13,280 kJ/day). In winter, giant pandas raised their metabolic rates when living at − 2.4 °C (36,108 kJ/day) indicating that they were below their thermal neutral zone. The lower critical temperature for thermoregulation was about 8.0 °C and the upper critical temperature was about 28 °C. Giant panda FMRs were somewhat lower than active metabolic rates of sloth bears, lower than FMRs of grizzly bears and polar bears and 69 and 81% of predicted values based on a regression of FMR versus body mass of mammals. That is probably due to their lower levels of activity since other bears actively forage for food over a larger home range and pandas often sit in a patch of bamboo and eat bamboo for hours at a time. The low metabolic rates of giant pandas in summer, their inability to acquire fat stores to hibernate in winter, and their ability to raise their metabolic rate to thermoregulate in winter are energetic adaptations related to eating a diet composed almost exclusively of bamboo. Differences in FMR of giant pandas between our study and previous studies (one similar and one lower) appear to be due to differences in activity of the giant pandas in those studies.

Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) were historically hunted using dogs and are currently threatened by free-roaming dogs and their associated diseases. To better understand the spatial magnitude of this threat, we used a GIS approach to investigate edge effects of dogs on giant panda habitat. We first examined two nature reserves with contrasting free-roaming dog populations: Liziping, with many dogs (~0.44/km2), and Daxiangling, with few dogs (~0.14/km2). Spatial analysis indicated that giant pandas at Liziping (but not Daxiangling) showed a shift in habitat use away from populated areas consistent with a risk response to the foray distance of free-roaming dogs (10.9 km path-distance). Most giant panda locations (86%) from the 2014 census in Liziping were clustered around remote “dog-free zones.” Expanding this analysis across the entire giant panda range revealed that 40% of panda habitat is within the foray distance of dogs. Our assessment will inform dog control programs including monitoring, education, veterinary care, and other measures. We recommend that reserves designated for the release of translocated pandas receive priority consideration for dog control efforts. Only by understanding and managing complex interactions between humans, domestic animals, and wild animals can we sustain natural systems in a world increasingly dominated by humans.

As a researcher and staff of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (CRB), I participated in the development of a program to prepare and release captive-born giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) into the wild. The method we have applied, the Assisted Soft Release (ASR), is utilized by conservation translocation programs for a variety of species but is novel for giant pandas. Under this methodology, researchers begin working closely with animals at a young age to develop trusting bonds. These bonds allow us to closely monitor and assist the release candidates as they progress from captivity to the wild. Our release program began in 2014 and is still in early development. My studies focused on those released giant panda individuals and controls from that program. I studied three important aspects of panda biology: blood physiology and biochemistry, metabolism, and the interaction of metabolism and blood thyroid hormones (THs). First, I monitored the health of reintroduction and captive giant pandas by analyzing their blood physiology and biochemistry. Second, I used a doubly labeled water (DLW) method to measure the metabolic rate of giant pandas selected for release and living in large natural enclosures. Third, I determined if blood THs had a positive relationship to the metabolic rate of both reintroduction pandas in natural enclosures and captive giant pandas. I found that giant pandas had altered blood characteristics in response to life at high elevations. I also found that giant pandas had metabolic rates like those of similar sized bears and that giant pandas raised their metabolism under winter conditions. Finally, thyroid hormones were not positively related to field metabolic rate in this study. However, I found higher thyroxine values in giant pandas in the large enclosures in the nature reserve as compared to the captive giant pandas. Those values were probably related to the higher energy expenditure of the pandas at higher altitude. These data will help us to understand the biology of giant pandas released into the wild in nature reserves.