2023-10-06 00:51:16
The mammals that live in the Greater Kruger National Park, South Africahome to one of the largest remaining lion populations in the world, are much more afraid of hearing human voices than lion roars or hunting sounds like dogs barking or gunshots, according to research published in the journal Current Biology (1).
Humans are super lethal
Recent global studies show that humans kill their prey at a much higher rate than other predators. “We tend to think of the top of the food chain as large predatory carnivores,” said first author Liana Y. Zanette, a conservation biologist at Western University in Canada, “but what interests us is the unique ecology of humans.” as predators in the system, because humans are super lethal.
“Normally, if you’re a mammal, you’re not going to die of disease or starvation, what really kills you is going to be a predator, and The bigger you are, the bigger the predator that kills you.“explains co-author Michael Clinchy, also a conservation biologist at Western University.
“Lions are the largest terrestrial hunting predator, as a group, on the planet, and therefore should be the most fearsome, so we are comparing the fear of humans versus that of lions to find out if humans are more fearsome than the predator. fiercest human being,” he adds.
As part of their South African mega-experiment, Zanette, Clinchy and their colleagues observed how 19 different species of mammals reacted to a series of recordings, including human voices, lion vocalizations, dog barking and gunshots.
As part of their South African mega-experiment, Zanette, Clinchy and their colleagues watched how 19 different species of mammals reacted to a series of recordings, including human voices, lion vocalizations, dog barking and gunshots.
The human voice clips, at conversational volume, came from radio or television recordings of people speaking las four most widely used languages in the region: Tsonga, Northern Sotho, English and Afrikaans. The dogs and gunshots were intended to represent sounds associated with human hunting, and the lions’ vocalizations, developed with the help of lion expert and co-author Craig Packer of the University of Minnesota (United States), were intended to signal the presence of the main predator of the region.
“The most important thing is that lion vocalizations are conversational growls and grunts, not roars at each other,” Clinchy explains. “Thus, lion vocalizations are directly comparable to those of humans speaking conversationally.”
The omnipresent fear of humans
To observe and record the animals’ behaviors in response to the recordings, the authors used custom-made waterproof systems that combine a camera trap and a speaker, and which have enough battery to record all day and all night for many hours. months.
The study was carried out in the dry season and the recording systems were placed in watering holes to record all the animals that came to drink.
The study was carried out in the dry season and the systems were placed in watering holes to record all the animals that came to drink. At the end of the experiment, the team had 15,000 videos.
“We put the camera in a bear box, not because there are bears in South Africa, but because of the hyenas and leopards that like to nibble on them,” says Zanette. “One night, the lion footage made an elephant so angry that it charged and destroyed everything.”
95% of species, including giraffes, leopards, hyenas, zebras, kudus, warthogs, impalas, elephants and rhinos, ran more or left watering holes faster when they heard humans than when they heard lions
The researchers found that the animals were twice as likely to flee and abandon watering holes when hearing humans than when hearing lions or hunting sounds. 95% of species, including giraffes, leopards, hyenas, zebras, kudus, warthogs, impalas, elephants and rhinos, ran more or left watering holes faster when they heard humans than when they heard lions.
“There is this idea that animals will become habituated to humans if they are not hunted. But we have shown that this is not the case,” Zanette points out. “The fear of humans is deep-rooted and widespread, so it is something in which we have to start thinking seriously about conservation purposes.
The team is now investigating whether their customized sound systems can be used to deliberately drive endangered species, such as the southern white rhino, away from known poaching areas in South Africa. So far, efforts to drive rhinos away from certain areas by using human voices have been successful.
“I think the pervasiveness of fear throughout the savanna mammal community is a true testament to the environmental impact that humans have,” says Zanette. “Not only because of habitat loss, climate change and the extinction of species, which are important things. But the mere fact that we are in that landscape is a sufficient danger signal for them to respond forcefully. They are scared to death of humans, much more than of any other predator,” he concludes.
References (1) Fear of the human “superpredator” invades the South African savannah. Current Biology.
#Mammals #fear #humans #lions