Few reports are available on the role of probiotic strains in preventing ETEC invasion in giant panda. In a previous work, we isolated L. plantarum G83, a novel probiotic strain, from the feces of healthy captive giant panda. The microbe survived well at low pH, was tolerant to high bile-salt concentrations and resistant to antibiotics, and antagonized pathogenic bacteria in vitro (data not shown). For the next research step, the safety of this strain was assessed in vivo. Our laboratory also analyzed the intestinal microfloral structure of captive giant pandas at different age (Peng et al., 2016). The above-mentioned results served as the foundation for using the L. plantarum G83 as an antibiotic alternative and motivated the present study in mice. Similar to giant pandas, mice are omnivorous and easily infected by ETEC. Thus, mice are adopted as models for the study of the protective effects of L. plantarum G83 against ETEC invasion in giant panda.