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Pandas are actually pretty gregarious,study findsPreviously thought to be solitary animals, giant pandas actually spend a decentamount of time together, according to a new study from Michigan State University.

By Rowena Lindsay, Staff Writer MARCH 30, 2015

Giant pandas, thought to be hermits of the animal kingdom, are actually

quite social (http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/5031/20150329/the-

charming-tale-of-giant-pandas-why-these-wall-flowers-are-the-life-of-the-

party.htm), according to a study published in the Journal of Mammalogy.

A team of researchers from Michigan State University put GPS collars on

five giant pandas from the Wolong Nature Reserve

(/csmlists/topic/Wolong+Nature+Reserve) in China

(/csmlists/topic/China). The pandas Pan Pan, Mei Mei, Zhong Zhon, Long

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Long, and Chuan Chuan were captured, given the collars and released back

into the wild where their movements were logged every four hours for two

years, from 2010 to 2012.

Pandas were previously thought to be solitary animals, but the GPS trackers

found that the three female pandas Pan Pan, Mei Mei, and Long Long spend

long periods of time together throughout the year. The male panda Chuan

Chuan traveled longer distances but frequently returned the group of

female pandas, even outside of the spring mating season.

Recommended: Name that animal!(/Environment/2013/0815/Name­that­animal/1)

"Pandas are such an elusive species and it's very hard to observe them in

wild, so we haven't had a good picture of where they are from one day to the

next," coauthors of the study, Vanessa Hull and Jindong Zhang said in a

press release (http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/5031/20150329/the-

charming-tale-of-giant-pandas-why-these-wall-flowers-are-the-life-of-the-

party.htm). "This was a great opportunity to get a peek into the pandas'

secretive society that has been closed off to us in the past.”

By tracking the pandas’ movements,

researchers also found that pandas return to

the same locations to feed up to six months

after having vacated an area, suggesting that

the animals remember particularly good meals

and return when the bamboo has grown back.

Very little was previously known about the

behavior of pandas, as they are a highly

endangered species due to habitat

fragmentation, climate change, and human

interaction.

Only 1,846 pandas are estimated to be living in

the wild, although this total is up from 1,000 to

1,100 in 1977, according to the World Wildlife

Foundation

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The Chinese government does not typically allow researchers to put GPS

collars on pandas, since they are under state protection. But Dr. Hull hopes

that they will allow future studies to go forward given the success of this

most recent one.

"We hope the Chinese government sees the value of doing this kind of study

and encourages more of it in the future

(http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27262-giant-pandas-secret-

social-life-revealed.html)," Hull told the New Scientist

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