Antipredator behaviour of African ungulates around human settlements

Abstract

As human populations grow and come into more frequent contact with wildlife, it is important to understand how anthropogenic disturbance alters wildlife behaviour. Using fine‐scale spatial analyses, we examined how proximity to human settlements affects antipredator responses of ungulates. We studied seven common ungulate species (Kirk's dik‐dik, Thomson's gazelle, impala, common warthog, common wildebeest, common zebra and Masai giraffe) in the Tarangire–Manyara ecosystem in northern Tanzania. In zebra and giraffe, flight responses to humans were significantly more likely when closer to settlements; however, there was a weak relationship between flight responses and distance to settlement in all other species. While there was largely a weak relationship between proximity to human settlements, the distribution of settlements in the landscape appears to affect wildlife behaviour, suggesting that animals perceive and respond to spatial variation in risk exerted by humans.

Preliminary Behavioural Observations of Horseback Safaris: Initial Insights into the Welfare Implications for Horses and Herbivorous Plains Game Species

“…Waterbuck, hartebeest and kudu were rarely seen which is likely due to low numbers in the reserve, in addition to their high vigilance. Some degree of habituation to horseback safaris by the plains game species encountered was likely, as has been suggested in other human encounters [ 15 ] and in other species visited by tourists [ 41 ], and this may also have affected the behaviour observed.…”

“…Close encounters between ridden horses and game species are unnatural and potentially stressful situations, and horseback safaris may have adverse impacts on both the domestic horses being used to carry tourists and the wildlife they have come to observe. Horses and herbivorous plains game species typically use locomotion as their anti-predation strategy, meaning they are highly vigilant, sensitive to the behaviour of other individuals within their group and have a well-developed flight response [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Grazing ungulates are also known to respond to behavioural unease of other herbivorous prey species within their proximity [ 16 , 17 ].…”

“…Diurnal and seasonal changes in grazing behaviour were observed by Schuette et al [ 31 ] as ungulates selected a foraging strategy that was optimal for the level of human disturbance, the risk of predation and the vegetation quality. While Yamashita et al [ 15 ] identified an influence of human settlements on the antipredator behaviour exhibited by African ungulates, they highlight the lack of detailed information on how different human activities may affect wildlife behaviour. The immediate, acute, impact of an encounter with tourists does not appear to have been considered previously.…”

Ungulate

“…As human populations continue to expand into rural landscapes for recreation and livelihood, interactions between humans and wildlife are becoming more abundant (Wittemyer et al 2008;Yamashita et al 2017). Accumulation of increased antipredator behaviors in ungulates that reside in close proximity to humans can cause detrimental effects to an individual's physiology and fitness (Cooke et al 2014).…”

“…Accumulation of increased antipredator behaviors in ungulates that reside in close proximity to humans can cause detrimental effects to an individual's physiology and fitness (Cooke et al 2014). Animals, particularly ungulates, tend to respond more forcibly when exposed to scenarios that they perceive as a more dangerous threat (Yamashita et al 2017). The size of a group is inversely proportional to the amount of time that social ungulates spend being vigilant (Manor and Saltz 2003).…”