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Fear of the human 'super predator' in native marsupials and introduced deer in Australia.
McGann, Katherine; Johnson, Christopher N; Clinchy, Michael; Zanette, Liana Y; Cunningham, Calum X.
Afiliação
  • McGann K; School of Natural Resources, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55 , Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
  • Johnson CN; School of Natural Resources, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55 , Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
  • Clinchy M; Department of Biology, Western University , London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada.
  • Zanette LY; Department of Biology, Western University , London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada.
  • Cunningham CX; School of Natural Resources, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55 , Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
Proc Biol Sci ; 291(2023): 20232849, 2024 May.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38775542
ABSTRACT
Recent experiments have demonstrated that carnivores and ungulates in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America fear the human 'super predator' far more than other predators. Australian mammals have been a focus of research on predator naiveté because it is suspected they show atypical antipredator responses. To experimentally test if mammals in Australia also most fear humans, we quantified the responses of four native marsupials (eastern grey kangaroo, Bennett's wallaby, Tasmanian pademelon, common brushtail possum) and introduced fallow deer to playbacks of predator (human, dog, Tasmanian devil, wolf) or non-predator control (sheep) vocalizations. Native marsupials most feared the human 'super predator', fleeing humans 2.4 times more often than the next most frightening predator (dogs), and being most, and significantly, vigilant to humans. These results demonstrate that native marsupials are not naïve to the peril humans pose, substantially expanding the taxonomic and geographic scope of the growing experimental evidence that wildlife worldwide generally perceive humans as the planet's most frightening predator. Introduced fallow deer fled humans, but not more than other predators, which we suggest may result from their being introduced. Our results point to both challenges concerning marsupial conservation and opportunities for exploiting fear of humans as a wildlife management tool.
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Texto completo: 1 Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Comportamento Predatório / Cervos / Medo / Marsupiais Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2024 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Comportamento Predatório / Cervos / Medo / Marsupiais Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2024 Tipo de documento: Article