Huang Haochen, Shen Zhenhui, Zhang Xinhao, Cheng Hongyi, Xie Chungang, Zheng Rongquan
College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China.
Jinhua Wildlife Conservation and Management Station, Jinhua 321000, China.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jun 4;15(11):1658. doi: 10.3390/ani15111658.
As a mammal with unique ecological habits, the Chinese pangolin, exhibits nocturnal behavior and has a hidden, cave-dwelling lifestyle. Severe habitat degradation and fragmentation have led to a rapid decline in its wild population. Moreover, the immature state of artificial breeding technology restricts the availability of research samples, particularly with regard to behavioral and ecological data. This makes it extremely difficult to continuously monitor the pangolin's ecological habits and population dynamics for a long time. The comprehensive research archive is yet to be established, greatly limiting the in-depth understanding of this species' ecological behavior. To mitigate this data shortage, this study installed GPS positioning and accelerometer technology devices on five Chinese pangolins that were rescued from Zhejiang and released into the wild. Activity rhythms and home ranges were then analyzed based on the collected data. The results showed that all the five released Chinese pangolins were active in the wild and survived throughout the tracking period (21-72 days). The pangolins were mainly active at night, with activity starting after 18:00 and being mainly concentrated between 22:00 and 4:00. The home range of the Chinese pangolins based on MCP was 777.41 ± 426.26 hm, and the core range based on KDE was 596.21 ± 265.58 hm (50% KDE). This result confirms that high-frequency GPS positioning combined with accelerometer data can effectively determine the home range sizes, habitat utilization, and fine-scale activity rhythms of wild-released pangolins.
中华穿山甲作为一种具有独特生态习性的哺乳动物，表现出夜行性，过着隐秘的穴居生活方式。严重的栖息地退化和破碎化导致其野生种群数量迅速下降。此外，人工繁育技术的不成熟限制了研究样本的获取，特别是行为和生态数据方面。这使得长期持续监测穿山甲的生态习性和种群动态极为困难。综合研究档案尚未建立，极大地限制了对该物种生态行为的深入了解。为缓解这种数据短缺的状况，本研究在5只从浙江获救并放归野外的中华穿山甲身上安装了GPS定位和加速度计技术设备。然后根据收集到的数据对活动节律和家域进行了分析。结果表明，放归的5只中华穿山甲在野外均活跃，且在整个跟踪期（21 - 72天）内存活。穿山甲主要在夜间活动，活动始于18:00之后，主要集中在22:00至4:00之间。基于最小凸多边形法（MCP）的中华穿山甲家域为$777.41 ± 426.26$公顷，基于核密度估计法（KDE）的核心区域为$596.21 ± 265.58$公顷（50% KDE）。这一结果证实，高频GPS定位结合加速度计数据能够有效地确定放归野外的穿山甲的家域大小、栖息地利用情况以及精细尺度的活动节律。
