Q&A: Researcher investigates how panda cubs communicate with their mother

And to survive, this tiny helpless cub needs to communicate with its mother—better and more urgently than the twin.

And in captivity, the mortality of pandas younger than one month—especially during their first 15 days—is 22 percent higher than in any other age class. In essence, they need to communicate to their mother"Feed me, not the other one." Therefore, we propose in a recent publication in, that poor understanding of early-age vocal mother–infant communication may be a reason for the high mortality rate of newborn pandas.

This is quite interesting in the context of"survival of the fittest" because the lower call frequencies require longer vocal cords. Therefore, deeper calls could be an unmistakable way for a baby panda to signal to its mother that it is big and strong and growing rapidly—in fact much bigger and growing faster than its twin—and therefore worthier of the mother's attention and care.

This leads us to conclude that cubs uttering deeper calls do have an advantage in competing for maternal care and attention.is a true flagship species for conservation and often serves as China's national symbol. It was endangered for many years, but due to considerable and far-reaching conservation measures in the wild, and a stringently regulated captive breeding program coordinated between zoos worldwide, panda numbers are recovering.

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