Meeting Abstract

9-3  Saturday, Jan. 4 08:30 – 08:45  Panda Cub Climbing for Conservation SCHULZ, AK*; AYALA, J; ZHAO, W; RONG, H; HU, DL; Georgia Institute of Technology School of Mechanical Engineering; Chengdu Panda Base for Giant Panda Breeding – Husbandry and Reproduction; Georgia Institute of Technology School of Mechanical Engineering; Chengdu Panda Base for Giant Panda Breeding – Husbandry and Reproduction; Georgia Institute of Technology School of Mechanical Engineering and Biology akschulz@gatech.edu http://www.hu.gatech.edu/Schulz/

A juvenile panda’s best defense against predators is its ability scamper up a tree. Although climbing has been studied in black bears and the red squirrel, it has yet to be systematically in pandas. We designed and built a table-like structure with legs of diameters comparable to the trees found in their natural environment and tested 8 panda cubs ranging from 14-16 months old at the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding in the Sichuan province in China. Pandas climb up to speeds of speeds 0.1 to 0.3 m/s, and in a helical fashion, angling their body up 40 degrees from the vertical, and performing one cycle per meter. The 8 pandas exhibit a range of predilections for climbing, with 4 pandas have a much higher climbing success rate of 40% and above . We use these metrics to grade the panda cubs, which will provide useful input in deciding which pandas will have the greatest chance of survival when reintroduced into the wild.