Research on reproductive behavior of gorillas and Pandas.

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The present study was conducted to describe reproductive and other behaviors of two endangered species, Gorilla and Panda, in captivity. Gorillas were observed in two facilities, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Colonbus Zoo, Ohio. Adult females maintained affiliative interactions with the leading male but social relationships among adult females were infrequent. This tendency was very similar to that in the wild. Some adult females failed in taking care of their own infants, but hand-reared infants were successfully introduced to breeding groups. Therefore, most gorillas in the two facilities were able to maintain the ability to perform appropriate reproductive behaviors. Environmental enrichment is also very important for captive gorillas to display behaviors appropriate for not only reproduction but also maintenance of stable social groups. Moreover, behavioral responses of an infant gorilla to maternal separation were very similar to those of human children. Three giant pandas of two facilities in Japan were observed. They had problems to display stereotyped behaviors. Occurrences of some types of such behaviors were related with behaviors of visitors.