However, research has shown that some animal species like the panda make careful selection for their suitors, perhaps in a better way than humans.
Integration of personality traits
A recent study, published in the journal "Biological Conservation", revealed that giant pandas seek good companionship based on personality traits that complement their own. The research is particularly useful to conservation scientists, who are curious about ways to ensure more pairs of panda pairings that lead to healthy offspring in order to conserve this species.
Last year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature announced the reclassification of the giant panda as "weak," meaning that the efforts made to conserve these species, although they seem beneficial, are not yet effective enough, because there are only about 2,000 of the giant pandas that live in the wild today, most of them are adults.
It is hoped that conservation efforts will help them learn more about their mating behaviors, in both zoos and their natural habitats.
The San Diego Zoo Global Zoo has been home to a revolutionary giant panda breeding program, since the arrival of the female panda Bai Yun in 1996.
The zoo said that it succeeded in giving birth to the first batch of surviving panda cubs on the land of the United States at the time, which sparked a fierce dedication towards more understanding of the behavior of surrounding species in terms of reproduction, pregnancy and parenthood of the panda.
Evaluate panda personality characteristics
Biologists at the zoo participated in the latest study by evaluating some of the personality characteristics of the giant panda at that facility.
They ranked each animal on the basis of measures of aggression, excitability, fear, ability to explore, and other measures. After seeing each bear that failed to meet these standards, they noticed their preferences in relation to potential mates. And it turns out that some of the traits were more compatible with each other than others.
For example, the more excitable male pandas were the most fertile and the better with the less excitable females. The more aggressive males were better at mating and procreating than the less aggressive females, while the opposite groups showed much less reproductive success.
This is not the first time that we've seen scientists try to learn more about animal choices since the start of 2017. In January, a Dutch zoo discovered how a program called "Orangutan Thrills" could help female primates use technology similar to the common approach among Humans in dating software application, to find the right mate.
Time will tell us how valuable these types of research are, in terms of animal conservation and understanding the courtship and mating habits of animals, but the results have so far shown that we are not, in fact, different from our furry counterparts.