According to a new research undertaken by the Red Panda Network (RPN) in Nepal, wild red pandas will alter their natural behaviors to avoid associating with humans and other human-caused disruptions such as livestock herding, road construction, and free-roaming canines.

Over the course of a year, researchers in Nepal tracked panda movements with GPS collars and camera traps. This was the first time GPS-satellite collaring was utilized in Nepal to investigate red pandas. For the duration of the study, the collars transmitted data every two hours, which was then transmitted by satellite to the research team.

The study's goal was to obtain a better understanding of red pandas' mobility and social activities, as well as how these habitat specialists react to perturbations in human-dominated areas. Evidence suggests that pandas will go to considerable lengths to avoid disruptions, even if it means modifying their behavior. They appeared to be particularly concerned about anthropogenic (human-caused) disruptions such as roads, cattle, dogs, and deforestation.

One of the most serious issues confronting Nepal's red panda population now is habitat fragmentation. Deforestation has resulted in habitat fragmentation, isolating pandas from available food and shelter. When a panda leaves its fragmented forest region to migrate to another, it increases the chance of being attacked by a predator or a poacher. This is why RPN's 'Plant A Red Panda Home' initiative is so vital, as we fight to construct corridors between Nepal's fragmented forest parts.

Plant A Red Panda Home is Nepal's national program to restore red panda habitat and create a biological corridor for animals to thrive. We began with small-scale habitat restoration initiatives; this year's program culminated in 134,000 native trees planted by over 500 locals in around 90 hectares of deteriorated habitat! Plant A Red Panda Home continues to create green employment and alternative income options that help local communities devoted to red panda conservation to build sustainable livelihoods.

The GPS collar study suggests that pandas are further restricting their own habitat by avoiding roadways and smaller, isolated habitat patches, or 'habitat islands,' wherever feasible. During a chat with Terrance Fleming, RPN's Development Manager, Sonam Tashi Lama, RPN's Program Coordinator in Nepal who helped lead the collar research, says, 'It appears that red pandas have learned to comprehend the hazards connected with these disruptions.'

Because of the decreasing forest cover and buffer, red pandas are more exposed to the consequences of poaching and human encroachment on habitat islands. Red pandas are also more vulnerable to famine, predation, and other dangers because they must leave habitat islands to transverse unsuitable habitat, or a 'hostile' matrix, in search of bamboo and other resources such as water and nesting trees.

If a panda feels the urge to cross a road, it will usually do it during dawn or dusk, when there is less traffic on the road. Surprisingly, this was only true of automotive highways; pandas did not shun human-made walking pathways across the forest. When approaching pathways and fragmented forest or habitat islands, their movement and behavior did change (they became slower and more hypervigilant) (moved faster along less tortuous routes).

'All of this knowledge is crucial in knowing the best approach to move ahead to safeguard the red panda in human-dominated areas,' Sonam says. While some cooperation with humans is unavoidable, this study demonstrates that new road construction should be avoided wherever feasible, and animal crossings should be included along any new roads that must be built. Protection from human interaction through habitat zonation is vital to the red panda population's health, especially during mating season.