Eats, flips, shoots and leaves: Scientists solve the mystery of why pandas like to do a handstand when they urinate (and say it is to mark their territory)



If you go down to the woods in China today, you're in for a big surprise.

Researchers have uncovered the mystery behind one of the oddest animal behaviours ever found - male pandas performing a handstand when they urinate.



There is a purpose to this gymnastic feat, however, for an upside-down panda can get his pee higher up a tree - allowing him to spread his scent further afield and therefore increase his chances during the limited mating window.

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Going up: A panda in the Qinling Mountains region of China makes a handstand in order to mark his territory

Once he's found the right position, the panda can leave a high water-mark on the tree bark

Like many species, pandas mark their territory, and with a rapidly dwindling population, it is crucial that the males can make their presence known to ensure successful mating.

There are only believed to be 1,600 pandas left in the wild, and their terrain is expected to vanish due to human behaviour and climate change over the next 70 years.

Researchers researched the animals' bathroom habits in the Qinling Mountains and published their research in the July 2012 issue of the journal Animal Behaviour.

To do so, they need to find the widest tree possible, ideally with a rough bark. The rough bark helps embed their scent into the tree, so that the musk lasts for longer, and a wider tree ensures a wider surface area for maximum odour spread.

And the higher the scent is, the better their personal message spreads, so some clever panda along the evolutionary line began doing a handstand, allowing him to get his pee a little bit higher than any other panda in the forest.

Bathroom antics: A panda in the Qinling Mountains region of China makes a handstand in order to mark his territory

Job done, the panda strolls off into the distance

Along with the urine, pandas also secrete 'anogenital gland secretions', a waxy substance which indicates the age and sex of the panda to curious observers.

The researchers said: 'Aiming urine backwards and hitting the target is probably no easy task, particularly when doing a handstand, so selection of larger trees for urine marks probably maximizes the amount of urine that reaches the target.'

The animals can be fussy about which spot they pick. They will happily pee on a tree covered with moss, but they will not leave gland secretions on moss, with researchers theorising that the sap of a tree with no moss might bind the smell to the bark - whereas a moss covering will prevent this happening.

Most people know that pandas live on an almost exclusive diet of bamboo, which - as a poor provider of energy - means pandas need to be careful how they use their energy.

The researchers suggest that pandas must be efficient with how they live - perhaps leading to their very deliberate scent marking.

Ron Swaisgood, a San Diego Zoo researcher involved in the research, said: 'These choices have clear effects on the scent signal, making it last longer, be detected from (farther) away, or otherwise enhance its communication efficiency.'