Olfactory stimulation and house-changing as strategies to facilitate natural mating in captive giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) face reproductive challenges because of their brief estrus and short gestation periods. This study examined whether mutual sexual stimulation facilitated by a house-changing technique could promote natural reproduction by encouraging the expression of typical breeding season behaviors in both sexes. In this approach, males and females were visually separated to stimulate olfactory communication, and each animal was alternately introduced into an enclosure recently occupied by the opposite sex, enabling indi-rect scent-based interaction. Estrous behaviors (scent markings, vocalizations, and mating postures) were recorded to evaluate changes in mutual interest. The proposed technique was initiated in 2020 and successfully induced estrus, resulting in the first pregnancy that year. During the second pregnancy, estrous behavior remained evident despite fewer enclosure ex-changes. Peak estrogen concentrations were higher in 2020, when the technique was applied more actively, than in 2023. These findings indicate that the house-changing method can ef-fectively induce estrus in giant pandas, although the small sample size limits result generaliza-bility. Considering that natural mating generally yields higher reproductive success than artifi-cial insemination, this technique may be a valuable tool for giant panda conservation programs.