Title:
Variation of Feeding Regimes: Effects on Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Behavior

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dc.contributor.advisor Maple, Terry L.
dc.contributor.author Sandhaus, Estelle Ann en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Bloomsmith, Mollie A.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Marr, M. Jackson
dc.contributor.department Psychology en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2006-01-18T22:29:42Z
dc.date.available 2006-01-18T22:29:42Z
dc.date.issued 2004-12-03 en_US
dc.description.abstract Giant pandas in captivity are typically fed discrete amounts of highly concentrated food on a fixed time schedule, in addition to limited amounts of fresh bamboo throughout the day. In response to informal observations that these animals engage in a number of undesirable behaviors just prior to the predictable feeding of concentrated meals, we examined the existing feeding regime at the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, Peoples Republic of China. We sought to determine whether undesirable behaviors were occurring more frequently before the delivery of meals than at other times of day and whether modified feeding regimes would result in a more species-appropriate activity budget overall. As predicted, female giant pandas spent significantly more time engaged in door-directed/human-oriented behavior, stereotypic behavior, and non-stereotypic locomotion in the 30-minute periods prior to the feeding of concentrated meals. When placed on a modified feeding schedule in which frequency of bamboo provisioning was increased (total amount was held constant), significant differences were not found between study phases for the above-mentioned behaviors of interest, though a visual trend towards a decline in stereotypic behavior during the experimental phase was noted. Male pandas, when placed on a less predictable feeding schedule, did not exhibit significant behavioral differences in behaviors of interest between experimental phases or observation periods. These findings may be attributable in part to the low power inherent in the small sample size. However, visual trends that may be indicative of feeding anticipatory activity (FAA) were apparent. It appears that giant pandas, like many other animal species cited in the literature, are sensitive to periodic feeding regimes, though it is less clear as to which regime modifications will prove most beneficial. en_US
dc.description.degree M.S. en_US
dc.format.extent 555803 bytes
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/7617
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject Giant panda behavior en_US
dc.subject Zoo biology
dc.subject Ursidae
dc.subject Animal welfare
dc.subject Predictability
dc.subject Stereotypy
dc.subject Environmental enrichment
dc.subject.lcsh Animal feeding en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Giant panda Behavior en_US
dc.title Variation of Feeding Regimes: Effects on Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Behavior en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Thesis
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Maple, Terry L.
local.contributor.corporatename College of Sciences
local.contributor.corporatename School of Psychology
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication 9cf60f1d-71c0-44c1-8078-3df22eb3f3ce
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 85042be6-2d68-4e07-b384-e1f908fae48a
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 768a3cd1-8d73-4d47-b418-0fc859ce897d
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