Early Post-Release Movement Convergence in Reintroduced Giant Pandas

Energy budgets are a fundamental constraint on animal movement, shaping both spatial use and behavioral strategies. When energy is plentiful and risks are low, animals often benefit by investing more in movement. Yet, how movement patterns shift under extreme energetic limitations remains poorly understood. In this study, we used the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), a species with pronounced energetic constraints, as a model to examine movement adaptations under the dual challenges of dietary specialization and very low energy utilization efficiency. We tracked eight reintroduced pandas with global positioning system (GPS) collars over 474 days. Principal component analysis of 10 movement parameters revealed two independent behavioral axes: an Exploration-Exploitation axis (51.48% of variance) and a Tortuosity-Consistency axis (21.25% of variance). Both axes showed significant initial repeatability (R = 0.16-0.26) that diminished over time and stabilized near 0.2. Notably, initially exploratory individuals gradually reduced their space-use range, while exploitative individuals maintained more consistent space use, leading to decreased among-individual variation during the early acclimation period after release. This pattern aligns with the panda's bamboo diet and low energy expenditure reported in previous studies. Building on this, we propose a conceptual "Diet-Energy Utilization Constraint" hypothesis to guide future research into how dietary specialization and energy efficiency influence movement adaptation post-release.