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The Giant Panda Biomedical Survey: how

it began and the value of people working
together across cultures and disciplines

david e. wildt, anju zhang, hemin zhang, zhong xie, donald

l. janssen, susie ellis

i n t ro d u c t i o n

This book deals mostly with new biological knowledge and the use of
that knowledge to benefit the giant panda by enhancing health, repro-
duction and management. It is an important strategy for modern-day
zoo scientists, conducting ‘basic research’ to learn as much as possible
about previously unstudied phenomena in any species, especially those
that have received little, if any, attention.
In many ways, a scientist affiliated with a zoo is no different than
a university research professor – both study mechanisms by using the
scientific method to test hypotheses (Wildt, 2004). What is different
about zoo science is the growing emphasis on results having practical
uses – addressing issues that are relevant to allowing an animal to be
better maintained in captivity, to allow it to thrive, reproduce and help
sustain its species. In a perfect world that new knowledge will
have duality of purpose, being useful to improving the conservation
of in situ as well as ex situ populations. In fact, there now are many
examples of ‘captive’ studies that have been useful for re-invigorating

Giant Pandas: Biology, Veterinary Medicine and Management, ed. David E. Wildt, Anju
Zhang, Hemin Zhang, Donald L. Janssen and Susie Ellis. Published by Cambridge
University Press. # Cambridge University Press 2006.

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