image: The animal keeper (first author of this study) was responsible for the daily care and management of the captive giant panda cub.
Credit: Wei Guo, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Bears and pandas in captivity develop significantly different gut microbiomes compared to their wild counterparts, and giant pandas in particular have less diverse microbiomes than their wild counterparts
Article URL: http://plos.io/4pL5D5p
Article title: Captivity-driven microbiota reshaping: A cross-species analysis of divergent patterns in the gut microbiota of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), and Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus)
Author countries: China
Funding: This work was supported by the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2024NSFSC1179, No. 2024NSFSC0387) and the CMC Excellent-talent Program (No. 2024yxGzn05). Wei Guo was the recipient of the following grants: No. 2024NSFSC0387 and No. 2024yxGzn05. His contributions included: • Designing the study • Analyzing the data • Writing the manuscript Ruihong Ning was the recipient of grant No. 2024NSFSC1179. Her contributions included: • Performing the laboratory • Analyzing the data • Writing the manuscript.
Journal
PLOS One
Article Title
Captivity-driven microbiota reshaping: A cross-species analysis of divergent patterns in the gut microbiota of giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), and Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus)
Article Publication Date
8-Oct-2025
COI Statement
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.