Table 1 Description of variables used in movement analyses

Demographic variables

 Sex

Male, female

 Age

Adult, sub-adult

Temporal variables

 Season

Mating (January–March), Birthing (April–July), Cub-rearing (August–October), Premating (November–December)

 Diel time

Dawn (period between astronomical dawn when the sun is at 18° below the horizon and golden hour after sunrise), Dusk (period between golden hour before sunset and astronomical dusk), Day (period between two golden hours after sunrise and before sunset), Night (period between astronomical dusk and astronomical dawn)

Movement metrics

 Step length

The Euclidean distance (m) between two consecutive GPS fixes of an animal that were recorded at an interval of 2 h

 Distance

Refers to the sum of step length distances (m) covered by an individual in 24 h. It refers to the daily distance unless otherwise specified

 Dispersal distance

The topographic distance (km) following contours between the natal and the new home range. It refers to the total distance covered by a disperser unless otherwise specified

 Straightness index

The ratio of the square root of net square displacement, i.e. the square of the Euclidean distance between two points, divided by the sum of the step lengths of the movement trajectory of each red panda for each season [98]. These two points were the start and end points of the movement trajectory. Values range from 0 to 1 relating to increasing straightness with higher values

Geo-physical variables

 Elevation (Elev)

Elevation of red panda presence points (m). Source: Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM, 1 arc-second) Global Digital Elevation Model (DEM)—https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

 Topographic Position Index (TPI)

Topographic Position Index measures elevation difference. Values ranged between − 9 and 10 with higher values being mountain ridges and lower values being mountain valleys. Source: SRTM, 1 arc-second, DEM

 Slope

Slope of red panda presence points (°). Source: SRTM, 1 arc-second, DEM

Fragmentation metrics within home ranges

 Habitat patch

Refers to the set of neighbouring cells belonging to same land cover type, i.e., forest cover

 Fractal Dimension Index (FRAC)

Describes the shape complexity of each habitat patch based on perimeter-area relationships. Values range between 1 and 2 with very simple perimeters close to 1 and highly convoluted complex shape towards 2 [52]. Habitat patches due to natural causes have more complex and irregular shapes while human-induced patches have regular shapes

 Patch density (PD)

Is the number of forest habitat patches in the home range of an animal divided by the home range area (number of patches/ha)

 Edge density (ED)

Sum of total length of edge of forest habitat patches within an animal’s home range (m/ha)

 Proportion of land cover (PLAND)

We included two land cover type: forest and non-forest. PLAND represents the proportion of forest cover in a home range (%)

 Patch area (AREA)

The area (ha) of each habitat patch

 Connectance Index (CONNECT)

Refers to the percentage of the maximum possible connection among the forest habitat patches within the Euclidean distance of 50 m, see details in [52]. A zero value refers to a single patch or no connection between any patches, while 100 means there is connection between all patches [52]

 Clumpiness Index (CLUMPY)

Refers to the distribution pattern of forest habitat patches. It ranges from − 1 to 1. A zero value refers to random distribution of patches, and values close to − 1 and + 1 show increasing dispersal and increasing clumpiness of patches respectively, see details in [52]. The index will be 1 for single patch in a landscape

 Euclidean Nearest Neighbour Index (ENN)

Refers to the shortest straight-line edge-to-edge distance between two forest habitat patches (m)

Disturbance variables

 Distance to road (Road_dist)

Euclidean distance between the red panda presence points and the nearest road (m). Source: https://www.openstreetmap.org/

 Distance to human-walking track (Trac_dist)

Euclidean distance between the red panda presence points and the nearest human-walking trail (m): Source: https://www.openstreetmap.org/

 Distance to cattle station (Catt_dist)

Euclidean distance between the red panda presence points and the nearest cattle station (m)