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15 results for “human-wildlife interactions”
Reducing risky interactions: Identifying barriers to the successful management of human-wildlife conflict in an urban parkland
<p>Managing activities that result in human-wildlife conflict is a challenging goal for modern scientists and managers. In recent years, the self-motivated feeding of wildlife by humans has garnered popularity but with consequent risks for the health and safety of both parties. This has resulted in calls for management in areas of high contact, e.g., parklands. Traditional controls are typically utilised (i.e., signage, patrols), yet their success is varied, leading to a rise in research aiming to improve them. This research has primarily focused on language and design, with little attention paid to the role that audience type (i.e., international tourists versus locals/residents) may play in their success. Proportions in audience type present can vary both between parks and spatially within a single park, however, controls are usually applied homogeneously with no consideration for how response may vary between these groups.</p> <p>Here, we performed a robust before-after study across two summers using a wild fallow deer population in a public park that are commonly fed by visitors as our model. We deployed controls, following best practices as outlined by the literature, and tested their overall effectiveness. We then identified key areas with differences in visitor type proportions and tested for variation in success between them.</p> <p>We found that the number of visitors feeding the deer significantly decreased overall after the introduction of controls, although interactions were not eliminated entirely. We discovered that the effectiveness of these controls varied with changes in visitor type, with the most positive effects occurring in areas with more international tourists and no significant effect occurring in areas dominated by resident visitors. Notably, of the food offerings remaining, the proportion of foods that could be perceived as 'nutritionally beneficial' increased in both sites, marking overall changes in the behaviours of even those visitors who refused to stop feeding.</p> <p>These findings highlight the importance of target audience research in human-wildlife conflict management. We recommend that authorities aiming to reduce these interactions perform systematic surveys to identify the audience type present and cater controls accordingly to maximise their success.</p>
Artificial selection in human-wildlife feeding interactions
<p>The artificial selection of traits in wildlife populations through hunting and fishing has been well documented. However, despite their rising popularity, the role that artificial selection may play in non-extractive wildlife activities, e.g., recreational feeding activities, remains unknown.</p> <p>If only a subset of a population takes advantage of human-wildlife feeding interactions, and if this results in different fitness advantages for these individuals, then artificial selection may be at work. We have tested this hypothesis using a wild fallow deer population living at the edge of a capital city as our model population.</p> <p>In contrast to previous assumptions on the randomness of human-wildlife feeding interactions, we found that a limited non-random portion of an entire population is continuously engaging with people. We found that the willingness to beg for food from humans exists on a continuum of inter-individual repeatable behaviour; which ranges from risk-taking individuals repeatedly seeking and obtaining food, to shyer individuals avoiding human contact and not receiving food at all, despite all individuals having received equal exposure to human presence from birth and coexisting in the same herds together. Bolder individuals obtain significantly more food directly from humans, resulting in early interception of food offerings and preventing other individuals from obtaining supplemental feeding.</p> <p>Those females that beg consistently also produce significantly heavier fawns (300-500g heavier), which may provide their offspring with a survival advantage. This indicates that these interactions result in disparity in diet and nutrition across the population, impacting associated physiology and reproduction, and may result in artificial selection of the begging behavioural trait.</p> <p>This is the first time that this consistent variation in behaviour and its potential link to artificial selection has been identified in a wildlife population and reveals new potential effects of human-wildlife feeding interactions in other species across both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. 22-Jun-2022 --</p>
Artificial selection in human-wildlife feeding interactions
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Reducing risky interactions: Identifying barriers to the successful management of human-wildlife conflict in an urban parkland
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Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions: Ecological and Financial Assessment of Elk Feedground Closure in Teton County
<p>Teton County in Western Wyoming is home to large working landscapes, a national park, and the nation's largest elk herd, the Jackson herd. It is also one of the few places in the Western United States that still operates elk feedgrounds, where the artificial feeding of these large mammals has resulted in high density populations over small areas, leading to increased disease transmission and prevalence. A disease of primary concern is brucellosis (<em>Brucella abortus</em>) which can be transmitted from elk to cattle and result in financial burdens for ranchers through quarantine, depopulation, reduced milk production, or calf abortions. This project aimed to better understand the complex social and ecological dynamics of elk feedgrounds in order to assess the feasibility of implementing financial tools that would mitigate the effects of disease transmission and wildlife presence risks of a simulated feedground closure. Our goal is to help improve human-wildlife coexistence on Wyoming's private and public lands. To accomplish this, we completed a Public Comment Sentiment Analysis, a Jackson Herd Habitat Connectivity Model, a Brucellosis Transmission Risk Model, and an Analysis of Financial Repercussions of Feedground Closure. These methods resulted in the assessment of two financial tools, a brucellosis compensation fund and an elk rent program, which we recommend to be implemented in Teton County. This project will serve to better inform the Property and Environment Research Center on potential methods for improving human-wildlife interactions and coexistence in Teton County through the understanding of where elk move on private lands, transmission of disease from elk to cattle, and the impacts that the cessation of feeding could cause on subsequent stakeholders, specifically the financial implications for ranchers.</p>
Human-wildlife interactions on the tidal flats of the Bijagós archipelago: does shellfishing affect migratory shorebirds?
<p>The Bijagós archipelago in West Africa is home to an ethnic group with a rich cultural heritage that is tightly linked to nature. The Bijagós people have a shared cultural identity, but across islands, there are different resource management regimes stemming from island-specific context with regards to socio-political organization and strength of cultural heritage. Across the archipelago, bivalves harvested manually from the mudflats are an important part of the Bijagós people's diet, economy, and culture. Thousands of migratory shorebirds share the use of these mudflats during their non-breeding season, consuming macrobenthos such as crustaceans and bivalves, including those harvested by local people. At the end of their stay in the Bijagós, shorebirds need to fuel for their migratory flight in order to return to their breeding areas, being particularly important during this period that they have access to undisturbed feeding areas with suitable food resources.</p> <p>In this study, we start by exploring shellfishing patterns across different management regimes, then assess seasonal variation in the direct impact of shellfishing on shorebirds (through competition for resources and space), and finally quantify the indirect impact of sediment disturbance due to shellfishing upon shorebird prey availability. Results indicate that bivalve resources are better managed in areas with formal protection, while traditional management based on cultural beliefs results in poorer stock conditions. Interestingly, across islands shellfishing activity is concentrated in mid-winter, decreasing towards shorebirds' fuelling period, when they benefit the most from reduced disturbance on the mudflats. No direct competition for resources was detected, as collected bivalves were significantly larger than those consumed by shorebirds, regardless of the season. Indirect impacts caused by sediment disturbance during shellfishing were also mostly absent, causing only a small reduction on shorebirds prey density, but with no effect on the available biomass.</p>
Emergency-line calls as an indicator to assess human-wildlife interaction in urban areas
<p><span>Human-wildlife interactions (HWI) are increasingly common as human disturbance and development continue to remove wildlife habitats. Documenting HWIs is critical for management agencies to develop strategies and management decisions that meet the needs of both people and wildlife. However, evaluating the frequency and types of HWI at broad spatial scales (e.g., national or regional level) can be costly and difficult to implement by managers. In this study, we apply a novel method for evaluating the patterns of HWI in urban areas using publicly available data from emergency calls placed by inhabitants of Romania's >300 urban areas. We used information from 4,601 emergency calls (Romanian National Emergency Call System 112), consisting of (1) wildlife species, (2) spatial location, (3) date and time, and (4) a short description of the emergency. Out of the 318 analyzed cities, 300 cities documented emergency calls on HWI between 2015–20120, with roe deer and brown bear as the most frequent species. There was an increasing trend in HWI-related emergency calls in 73% of the urban areas. We mapped the large-scale distribution of HWI by species and type of interactions, capturing variations at the national level, and further, we analyze social and biophysical factors influencing the occurrence and frequency of HWI. The results showed that social factors have the same positive or negative effect on all species, while the effect of the biophysical factors varied between species. Particularly, the presence of large natural habitats, represented by forests, influenced the number of calls only for brown bears. Seminatural landscapes with agricultural land have a different influence in terms of effect and significance for the considered species. Our results suggest that publicly available data from emergency calls can be used for the rapid assessment of HWI and for evaluating trends and predictors of HWI at broad spatial scales.</span></p>
Human-wildlife interactions on the tidal flats of the Bijagós archipelago: does shellfishing affect migratory shorebirds?
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Managing Human-Wildlife Interactions: Ecological and Financial Assessment of Elk Feedground Closure in Teton County
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Emergency-line calls as an indicator to assess human-wildlife interaction in urban areas
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Communicating risk in human-wildlife interactions: how stories and images move minds
Effectively communicating risk is critical to reducing conflict in human-wildlife interactions. Using a survey experiment fielded in the midst of contentious public debate over flying fox management in urban and suburban areas of Australia, we find that stories with characters (i.e., narratives) are more effective than descriptive information at mobilizing support for different forms of bat management, including legal protection, relocation, and habitat restoration. We use conditional process analysis to show that narratives, particularly with accompanying images, are effective because they cause emotional reactions that influence risk perception, which in turn drives public opinion about strategies for risk mitigation. We find that prior attitudes towards bats matter in how narrative messages are received, in particular in how strongly they generate shifts in affective response, risk perception, and public opinion. Our results suggest that those with warm prior attitudes towards bats report greater support for bat dispersal when they perceive impacts from bats to be more likely, while those with cool priors report greater support for bat protection when they perceive impacts from bats to be more positive, revealing 1) potential opportunities for targeted messaging to boost public buy-in of proposals to manage risks associated with human-wildlife interactions, and 2) potential vulnerabilities to disinformation regarding risk.
Data from: Are British urban foxes (Vulpes vulpes) 'bold'? The importance of understanding human-wildlife interactions in urban areas
<p>Urban fox behaviour recorded during an extensive field experiment in Bristol, UK. We examined two different but inter-related behaviours, both of which influence a fox's propensity to take risks. Neophobia affects a fox's reaction to novelty in the environment, and wariness its reaction to potential threats. We investigated how social status and foraging social context influenced both behaviours in Bristol's fox population. For further information please see Padovani <em>et al.</em> 2021.</p> <p> </p>
Data from: Are British urban foxes (Vulpes vulpes) ‘bold’? The importance of understanding human-wildlife interactions in urban areas
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Communicating risk in human-wildlife interactions: how stories and images move minds
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Rancher viewpoint diversity in human-wildlife coexistence management: The case of jaguar-livestock interaction in the region of Calakmul, Mexico
<p>This study focuses on jaguar conservation in ranching landscapes in the Calakmul region of Mexico, where jaguars (Panthera onca) often coexist with ranchers, leading to potential conflicts. To better understand ranchers' perspectives, we conducted discrete choice experiments (DCEs) with 196 ranchers across five localities. The study assessed preferences regarding four key attributes: forest cover, livestock management practices, the desired number of jaguars, and willingness to invest in measures that promote coexistence between livestock and jaguars.</p> <p>Our findings revealed significant diversity in ranchers' preferences. While some ranchers support increased forest cover and the adoption of silvopastoral practices, others prefer reduced forest areas and the absence of jaguars. This heterogeneity underscores the need for tailored conservation strategies that address these diverse viewpoints. Effective conservation policies must go beyond addressing negative interactions with jaguars to also integrate ranchers' fundamental needs, such as education, healthcare, women's empowerment, and cultural preservation.</p> <p>This research highlights the importance of participatory approaches and the value of DCEs in providing actionable insights for developing conservation policies that are both socially acceptable and aligned with local needs. By considering the diverse perspectives of ranchers, this study aims to contribute to more balanced, effective, and equitable jaguar conservation efforts in the Calakmul region.</p> <p> </p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.