Red pandas on the move: weather and disturbance effects on habitat specialists

Red pandas on the move: weather and disturbance effects on habitat specialists

Challenging weather events can make winters harsh for habitat and diet specialists. They may also incur high energetic costs due to reduced availability of food resources and elevated predation risk. Using GPS satellite collars we tracked the movement of the red panda Ailurus fulgens in the Himalayas, and evaluated the effects of weather and disturbances on their movement patterns and habitat use. We also analyzed the nutritional content of their key diet plant species. The mean daily distance travelled by red pandas was 748 ± 40 m (median 573 m), with no detectable effect of weather conditions and snow age. However, males travelled further than females when there was snow on the ground (β = 410.5, p < 0.02). Red pandas moved between 2528 and 3250 m during the study period with the mean elevation 2857 ± 107 m when snow was on the ground and 2816 ± 99 m without snow. A group of disturbances such as distance to settlements, herding stations, and roads, and geo-physical variables affected their habitat use when the forest was covered with snow as they occupied areas away from human settlements (β = 0.36, p = 0.03), exhibited affinity for high elevations (β = 0.37, p = 0.02), and avoided steep slope (β = −0.21, p = 0.04). These movement patterns suggest a risk aversion strategy with males' behaviour appearing to be driven by reproductive instincts. Additionally, the distribution of their major dietary vegetation varied across the elevation gradient, leading to differences in the nutritional content of the diet, which might also have some effects on habitat use. Overall we found that despite red pandas exhibiting risk aversion behaviour, challenging weather events like snowfall could exacerbate the adverse effects on these habitat specialists.