Bista Damber, Lama Sonam Tashi, Weerman Janno, Sherpa Ang Phuri, Pandey Purushotam, Thapa Madhuri Karki, Acharya Haribhadra, Hudson Nicholas J, Baxter Greg S, Murray Peter John
School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia.
Red Panda Network, Baluwatar, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Mar 24;11(4):921. doi: 10.3390/ani11040921.
It is sometimes essential to have an animal in the hand to study some of their ecological and biological characteristics. However, capturing a solitary, cryptic, elusive arboreal species such as the red panda in the wild is challenging. We developed and successfully tested a protocol for tracking, trapping, immobilization, and handling of red pandas in the wild in eastern Nepal. We established a red panda sighting rate of 0.89 panda/day with a capture success rate of 0.6. We trapped and collared one animal in 3.7 days. On average, we took nearly 136 (range 50-317) min to capture an animal after spotting it. Further processing was completed in 38.5 (21-70) min. Before capture, we found it difficult to recognize the sex of the red panda and to differentiate sub-adults above six months from adults. However, body weight, body length, tail length, shoulder height, and chest girth can be used for diagnosis, as these attributes are smaller in sub-adults. Our method is a welfare-friendly way of trapping and handling wild red pandas. We report new morphometric data that could serve as a guide for field identification.
有时，为了研究某些动物的生态和生物学特征，手中有一只动物至关重要。然而，在野外捕获像小熊猫这样独居、隐秘、难以捉摸的树栖物种具有挑战性。我们开发并成功测试了一种在尼泊尔东部野外追踪、诱捕、固定和处理小熊猫的方案。我们确定小熊猫的目击率为每天0.89只，捕获成功率为0.6。我们平均每3.7天诱捕并给一只动物戴上项圈。平均而言，发现动物后我们需要近136分钟（范围为50 - 317分钟）来捕获它。进一步的处理在38.5分钟（21 - 70分钟）内完成。在捕获之前，我们发现很难辨别小熊猫的性别，也难以区分六个月以上的亚成体和成年个体。然而，体重、体长、尾长、肩高和胸围可用于诊断，因为这些特征在亚成体中较小。我们的方法是一种对小熊猫福利友好的野外诱捕和处理方式。我们报告了新的形态测量数据，可为野外识别提供指导。
