The role that visual discriminative ability plays among giant pandas in social communication and individual discrimination has received less attention than olfactory and auditory modalities. Here, we used an eye-tracker technology to investigate pupil fixation patterns for eight captive male giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca. We paired images (N = 26) of conspecifics against: 1) sympatric predators (gray wolves, tigers), and non-threatening sympatric species (golden pheasant, golden snub-nosed monkey, takin, red panda), 2) conspecifics with atypical fur coloration (albino, brown), and 3) zookeepers/non-zookeepers wearing either work uniform or plain clothing. For each session, we tracked the panda’s pupil movements and measured pupil first fixation point (FFP), fixation latency, total fixation count (TFC) and duration (TFD) of attention to each image. Overall, pandas exhibited similar attention (FFPs and TFCs) to images of predators and non-threatening sympatric species. Images of golden pheasant, snub-nosed monkey and tiger received less attention (TFD) than images of conspecifics, whereas images of takin and red panda received more attention, suggesting a greater alertness to habitat or food competitors than to potential predators. Pandas’ TFCs were greater for images of black-white conspecifics than for albino or brown phenotypes, implying that familiar color elicited more interest. Pandas reacted differently to images of men vs women. For images of women only, pandas gave more attention (TFC) to familiar combinations (uniformed zookeepers and plain-clothed non-zookeepers), consistent with the familiarity hypothesis. That pandas can use visual perception to discriminate intra-specifically and inter-specifically, including details of human appearance, has applications for panda conservation and captive husbandry.

中文翻译：

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是敌是友？利用眼动追踪技术研究大熊猫的视觉辨别能力

与嗅觉和听觉模式相比，视觉辨别能力在大熊猫社会交流和个体歧视中所起的作用受到的关注较少。在这里，我们使用眼动仪技术来研究八只圈养雄性大熊猫 Ailuropoda melanoleuca 的瞳孔注视模式。我们将同种动物的图像 (N = 26) 与以下对象配对：1) 同域捕食者（灰狼、老虎）和非威胁同域物种（锦鸡、金丝猴、羚羊、小熊猫），2) 同种异种毛皮颜色（白化、棕色），以及 3) 动物园管理员/非动物园管理员穿着工作制服或便衣。对于每个环节，我们都跟踪熊猫的瞳孔运动并测量瞳孔第一注视点 (FFP)、注视潜伏期、每个图像的总注视次数 (TFC) 和注意力持续时间 (TFD)。总体而言，大熊猫对捕食者和非威胁同域物种的图像表现出类似的关注（FFP 和 TFC）。锦鸡、金丝猴和老虎的图像受到的关注 (TFD) 少于同种图像，而羚牛和小熊猫的图像受到的关注更多，这表明对栖息地或食物竞争者的警觉性高于对潜在捕食者的警觉性。熊猫的黑白同种图像的 TFC 比白化或棕色表型的图像更大，这意味着熟悉的颜色会引起更多兴趣。熊猫对男性和女性图像的反应不同。仅对于女性图像，大熊猫更多地关注 (TFC) 熟悉的组合（穿制服的动物园管理员和便衣非动物园管理员），这与熟悉假设一致。