而熊猫在成长过程中也和人类一样要跟着母亲"学说话",耳濡目染,它们慢慢地就会学会吼叫、吠叫、嗷叫、嘶叫、咩叫等叫声.
"If a panda mother keeps tweeting like a bird, she may be anxious about her babies. She barks loudly when a stranger comes near," Zhang said. The barking can be interpreted as "getting out of my place", according to the researcher. Pandas can be as gentle as a lamb when they are "in love". Male pandas baa all the time when they are wooing their lovers. The females respond with constant tweeting if they feel the same.
比如,熊猫妈妈如果发出"咩咩"声,那可能是在寻找她的宝宝,饲养员需要适时提供帮助；而当大熊猫们发出"汪汪"的吠叫声时,则千万不要靠近他们,因为那表示他们很愤怒,想要打架或是威胁对方不要进入自己的领地.而在春季发情季节,熊猫还会使用自己独特的"恋爱语言".雄性熊猫会发出咩叫声,那可是在用"甜言蜜语"向自己心上人求爱.被俘获芳心,坠入爱河的雌性熊猫就会发出"唧唧""喳喳"的类似鸟鸣声,害羞回应.
"Trust me. Our researchers were so confused when we began the project that they wondered if they were studying a panda, a bird, a dog, or a sheep," Zhang said.
"我们的工作人员也会开玩笑问大熊猫到底是羊、是狗还是鸟�.�"张和民说.
The center plans to continue the study and is looking forward to the creation of a panda translator that could use high-tech voice recognition technology. "If we can understand their language, it will help us protect the animal, especially in the wild," he said.
他表示,熊猫语言学的研究还将继续,如能够破译更多熊猫语言,甚至发明"翻译器",那将有助于饲养员更好地理解熊猫各种声音的准确含义,也将有利于更科学地饲养、保护大熊猫,甚至能帮助大熊猫提高自然交配成功率.
