tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/wildlife-biology-35538/articlesWildlife biology – The Conversation2023-06-30T12:38:40Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2071882023-06-30T12:38:40Z2023-06-30T12:38:40ZBy ‘helping’ wild animals, you could end their freedom or even their lives – here’s why you should keep your distance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534688/original/file-20230628-19-sk482o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4019%2C3017&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An eastern box turtle crossing a rural Pennsylvania road.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CA0XxGAgnPg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">Julian Avery</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For anyone who enjoys nature, summer is a fascinating time to be outside. Animals are on the move: Turtles are nesting, baby birds are testing their wings, snakes are foraging and young mammals are emerging.</p>
<p>In central Pennsylvania, where I live, last year’s hatchling painted turtles have overwintered in their nests and emerged looking like tiny helpless snacks for raccoons and ravens. I’ve already rescued a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtIJe_eADFt/">baby killdeer</a> – a shorebird that nests in parking lots – that ran off the road and got stuck in a grate. And I’ve watched an eastern chipmunk prey on a nest of <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/overview">towhee chicks</a>. </p>
<p>I moved the killdeer to safety because it had fallen into what we call an “ecological trap.” Humans create these traps when we degrade habitat that looks suitable to animals. For killdeer, parking pads and roofs give off all the vibes of a great nesting site – except for the drains – and they have less natural habitat available these days. </p>
<p>But I didn’t intervene with the towhees. Their exposed nest site may have been a bad parental decision, or perhaps the chicks’ begging called too much attention. Either way, natural selection helped ensure that these birds and their genes were unlikely to survive. Ultimately, that may be better for the population and species than if I had intervened.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uYWmAHMAAAAJ&hl=en">wildlife biologist</a>, I know that relocating animals can be bad from a scientific perspective. It also can easily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12246">harm the creature you want to help</a>.</p>
<p>Based on my experience as a scientist and university teacher, I’ve developed guidelines for when to get involved in the lives of animals I encounter outside. When I do intervene, it is after carefully considering the potential reasons for the animal’s situation, the species’ population status and the potential harm my actions might inflict upon the whole population – not just on one adorable creature.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A Humane Society wildlife expert explains what to know about backyard wildlife.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Reasons for caution</h2>
<p>Wild animals have genetic associations with specific habitats that have evolved over many generations. Relocating them can disrupt those connections.</p>
<p>Moving animals means they can’t contribute their offspring and genes to the local population through breeding. That could be catastrophic for species with slow population growth, like many reptiles, who may take years to mature and might only manage a few successful broods in their lifetime. </p>
<p>For species like these, mature females are critical to keeping population sizes high. When populations are small, they lose genetic diversity that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frym.2021.656168">helps them resist environmental change</a>. </p>
<p>Moving wildlife also may introduce new genes elsewhere, leading to genetic shifts over time that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2014.00015">didn’t evolve through natural selection</a>. Animals that are successful in a region tend to leave more offspring, and the heritable genetic variation tied to that success becomes more common and associated with the local environment. These are important relationships to safeguard.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A juvenile raccoon on a lawn, looking startled." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534907/original/file-20230629-25-u5utdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A young raccoon that appeared abandoned was soon retrieved by its mother. Raccoons spend many months with their parent after leaving the nest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Avery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Moving animals also can cause immediate harm. Transported animals often can’t survive in a territory other animals have already claimed, or the new arrivals may do damage – for example, by preying on vulnerable local species. Wildlife managers may have to move them into captivity <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/1177857710/bison-calf-yellowstone-man">or even euthanize them</a>. </p>
<p>Some species can spread pathogens to other wildlife or humans. At a minimum, moving animals can <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/scrap-trap-when-evicting-wildlife">disorient them</a> and make it hard for them to settle, find food and water or avoid predators. </p>
<h2>It’s usually best to keep your distance</h2>
<p>In general, your default choice should be not to interfere or interact with wildlife. Knowing that humans are nearby <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-hike-so-close-to-me-how-the-presence-of-humans-can-disturb-wildlife-up-to-half-a-mile-away-162223">stresses animals</a>. It makes them move away or forage and behave differently, and it can harm their body condition by <a href="https://now.tufts.edu/2016/07/12/stress-wild">triggering stress responses</a> that ultimately reduce their fertility.</p>
<p>It’s especially common for people to see baby animals or birds, seemingly alone, and feel compelled to help. In fact, the parents may have secured their young and be actively caring for them, or the young animals may already be independent. </p>
<p>The amount of parental care that different species provide ranges from zero to a lot. For example, once a female turtle chooses a nest site with warm temperatures and the right amount of soil moisture, she lays her eggs and moves on. Hatchling turtles don’t need help unless they’re near <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ctmu3kEg7-2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">pets or roads</a>. </p>
<p>Rattlesnakes will bask in the sun to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1670/18-073">help their embryos be born live and healthy</a>. Many mammals <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CB1M0QVgtuP/">hide their young during the day</a> and care for them for months. </p>
<p>Bluebirds and tree swallows work tirelessly to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12997">feed their young, even after fledging</a>. In contrast, other birds kick their young out at an early stage so they can start the next clutch. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534931/original/file-20230629-25340-7yoje7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534931/original/file-20230629-25340-7yoje7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534931/original/file-20230629-25340-7yoje7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534931/original/file-20230629-25340-7yoje7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534931/original/file-20230629-25340-7yoje7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534931/original/file-20230629-25340-7yoje7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534931/original/file-20230629-25340-7yoje7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Golden-crowned kinglets, like this male, work together to raise 1-2 large broods a season. The male may even take over feeding fledglings as the female prepares the next clutch of 3-11 eggs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Avery</span></span>
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<p>Whatever the species, young and inexperienced animals without parents nearby may either be learning how to navigate or have been left hidden by their parents on purpose.</p>
<p>Parents do occasionally abandon their young. They may do it on purpose because their offspring are unfit, or because the parents aren’t fit enough to raise them. Or perhaps the parents have gotten lost. Whatever the reason, natural selection likely means these individuals and their gene complexes will not continue forward – and that benefits the species overall.</p>
<h2>Put the animal’s needs before your own</h2>
<p>It’s well established that getting close to nature is <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/health-benefits-of-being-outdoors">good for people’s mental health</a>. I believe it’s very important to <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-ok-to-feed-wild-birds-here-are-some-tips-for-doing-it-the-right-way-131371">foster human connections to nature</a> and facilitate these connections for people who have little exposure to the outdoors. </p>
<p>I advocate a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CdvOZYOgDma/">mindful and hands-on approach</a> to being outside. For example, I don’t touch animals that are rare unless it’s part of my research or covered by permits. If I handle an aquatic animal, I make sure my hands are wet and free of chemicals. </p>
<p>However, animals’ needs should come first. Whenever humans are active in an animal’s habitat, they can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duaa066">degrade it</a> and lead the animals to seek other space. </p>
<p>Some wild animals may be abandoned or alone acting strangely because they are sick or generally unfit. People who handle these animals risk contracting <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.582743">zoonotic diseases</a>, such as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/s0506-zoonotic-diseases-shared.html">rabies, plague and avian influenza</a>. Sometimes an unhealthy animal needs to be left alone to avoid spreading infection. </p>
<p>There also are animals that pretend to be injured or dead as a defense strategy. A casual observer may think a rescue is necessary, but don’t make assumptions. For example, Virginia opossums play dead in an involuntary fixed response to fear called <a href="https://asknature.org/strategy/opossums-feign-death-to-evade-predators/">defensive thanatosis</a>. They can’t control it, but within minutes to hours, they’re up and back to normal.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpQ_X6FALVq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>When and how to help</h2>
<p>Here are some guidelines for when and how to intervene in ways that minimize harm to wildlife.</p>
<p>First, don’t relocate animals over significant distances. An animal that accidentally hitches a ride over long distances, such as a treefrog under your bumper, shouldn’t be released in a new host area. </p>
<p>Helping an animal cross a busy road is OK if you move it in the direction in which it is already headed. This is particularly true for animals that live a long time and reproduce slowly, like <a href="http://northeastparc.org/box-turtle-educational-info/">box turtles</a>, which are declining across North America. Ensuring the survival of a single adult female box turtle can be very important to the success of a local population. </p>
<p>Second, respect the rules at national, state and local parks. Parks often protect at-risk species that can’t safely interact with humans. For example, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/moja/learn/nature/desert-tortoise.htm">desert tortoises</a> may urinate as a defense when picked up, which reduces their internal water supply. </p>
<p>Learn to identify common species that can handle human curiosity and make good ambassadors for biodiversity. Many state agencies have a website or atlas for major wildlife groups that will help you learn which species are widespread or more rare. Most ponds have a common frog that’s sure to catch your eye. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CeQ7Ka4Ow0d/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Third, if you think an animal is truly in danger, call a local game warden, wildlife officer, rehab professional or park ranger for advice. If the animal is immediately at risk from a pet or approaching car, and you can reach it safely, put on some gloves and help it – but leave it traveling in the same direction it was moving, or near its local area, so that it doesn’t become disoriented and try to disperse into dangerous habitat.</p>
<p>Fourth, get out and explore. But remember that you’re a guest in the animals’ habitat – tread softly and respectfully. A fallen log can <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/dead-wood-for-wildlife">shelter all kinds of creatures</a>. Look underneath, and then place it back as it was so that it continues to be a home for them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207188/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Avery does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A newborn bison calf in Yellowstone National Park had to be euthanized after a visitor handled it in May 2023 – a recent example of how trying to help wild animals often harms them.Julian Avery, Associate Research Professor of Wildlife Conservation, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1844112022-06-06T12:51:28Z2022-06-06T12:51:28ZMaking room for wildlife: 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467000/original/file-20220603-38455-brs9v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3210%2C2376&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Photographing a bear in Yellowstone National Park at a distance the National Park Service calls safe – at least 100 yards from a predator.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/D9s93c">Jim Peaco, NPS/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of Americans enjoy observing and photographing wildlife near their homes or on trips. But when people get too close to wild animals, they risk <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/01/1102400431/yellowstone-bison-woman-gored">serious injury</a> or even <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-7-21-16.htm">death</a>. It happens regularly, despite the threat of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/10/1044918852/yellowstone-national-park-service-grizzly-bears">jail time and thousands of dollars in fines</a>. </p>
<p>These four articles from The Conversation’s archive offer insights into how wild animals view humans and how our presence affects nearby animals and birds – plus a scientist’s perspective on what’s wrong with wildlife selfies. </p>
<h2>1. They’re just not that into you</h2>
<p>In some parts of North America, wild animals that once were hunted to near-extinction have rebounded in recent decades. Wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, beavers and black bears are examples of wild species that have returned to large swaths of their pre-settlement ranges. As human development expands, people and animals are finding themselves in close quarters. </p>
<p>How do the animals react? Conservation researcher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mjtNMbgAAAAJ&hl=en">Kathy Zeller</a> and her colleagues radio-collared black bears in central and western Massachusetts and found that the bears avoided populated areas, except when their natural food sources were less abundant in spring and fall. During those lean seasons, the bears would visit food sources in developed areas, such as bird feeders and garbage cans – but they <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-bears-adapt-to-life-near-humans-by-burning-the-midnight-oil-118899">foraged at night</a>, contrary to their usual habits, to avoid contact with humans. </p>
<p>“Wild animals are increasing their nocturnal activity in response to development and other human activities, such as hiking, biking and farming,” Zeller reports. “And people who are scared of bears may be comforted to know that most of the time, black bears are just as scared of them.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/black-bears-adapt-to-life-near-humans-by-burning-the-midnight-oil-118899">Black bears adapt to life near humans by burning the midnight oil</a>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fuzzy black and white image of a bear walking in a developed area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467003/original/file-20220603-11-fytiqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A bear on a residential driveway in Ontario, Canada, at 4 a.m., photographed by a trail camera with night vision.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/black-bear-prowling-by-my-home-at-night-royalty-free-image/1265270981">Pixel-Productions/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span>
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<h2>2. Wild animals turn up in unexpected places</h2>
<p>When a recovering species shows up on its old turf or in its former waters, humans aren’t always happy to make room for it. Ecologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x-evXF4AAAAJ">Veronica Frans</a> studied sea lions in New Zealand, a formerly endangered species that moves inland from the coast to breed, often showing up <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-endangered-species-recover-humans-may-need-to-make-room-for-them-and-its-not-always-easy-172570">on local roads or in backyards</a>. </p>
<p>Frans and her colleagues created a database that they used to find and map potential breeding grounds for sea lions all over the New Zealand mainland. They also identified potential challenges for the animals, such as roads and fences that could block their inland movement.</p>
<p>“When wild species enter new areas, they inevitably will have to adapt, and often will have new kinds of interactions with humans,” Frans writes. “I believe that when communities understand the changes and are involved in planning for them, they can prepare for the unexpected, with coexistence in mind.”</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-endangered-species-recover-humans-may-need-to-make-room-for-them-and-its-not-always-easy-172570">When endangered species recover, humans may need to make room for them – and it's not always easy</a>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="'Petting chart' image of a bison with various sections marked 'Nope,' 'Ouch,' and similar messages." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467002/original/file-20220603-15435-k1xuy1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=723&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Seriously, don’t pet the bison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Wildlife_Petting_Chart_%28NPS%29.jpg">National Park Service</a></span>
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<h2>3. Your presence has a big impact</h2>
<p>How close to wildlife is too close? Guidelines vary, but as a starting point, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/watchingwildlife/7ways.htm">the U.S. National Park Service recommends</a> staying at least 25 yards (23 meters) away from wild animals, and 100 yards (91 meters) from predators such as bears or wolves.</p>
<p>In a review of hundreds of studies, conservation scholars <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-Spw_2cAAAAJ&hl=en">Jeremy Dertien</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uflMR0gAAAAJ&hl=en">Courtney Larson</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DHusKacAAAAJ&hl=en">Sarah Reed</a> found that human presence <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-hike-so-close-to-me-how-the-presence-of-humans-can-disturb-wildlife-up-to-half-a-mile-away-162223">may affect many wild species’ behavior at much longer distances</a>. </p>
<p>“Animals may flee from nearby people, decrease the time they feed and abandon nests or dens,” they report. “Other effects are harder to see, but can have serious consequences for animals’ health and survival. Wild animals that detect humans can experience physiological changes, such as increased heart rates and elevated levels of stress hormones.” </p>
<p>The scholars’ review found that the distance at which human presence starts to affect wildlife varies by species, although large animals generally need more distance. Small mammals and birds may change their behavior when people come within 300 feet (91 meters), while large mammals like elk and moose can be affected by humans up to 3,300 feet (1,006 meters) away – more than half a mile.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-hike-so-close-to-me-how-the-presence-of-humans-can-disturb-wildlife-up-to-half-a-mile-away-162223">Don't hike so close to me: How the presence of humans can disturb wildlife up to half a mile away</a>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A wooden shed overlooks a wetland with mountains in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467004/original/file-20220603-20-y96fne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Photo blinds like this one at Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada make it easy to watch and photograph wild animals and birds unobtrusively.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/zjRrLV">DC Carr, USFWS/Flickr</a></span>
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<h2>4. Don’t take wildlife selfies, even if you’re a scientist</h2>
<p>There are stories from around the world of people <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvx4pv/indian-dies-taking-selfie-with-elephant-animals">dying in the act of taking selfies</a>. Some involve wildlife, such as a traveler in India who was <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/05/07/bear-mauls-death-indian-man-who-tried-take-selfie/585843002/">mauled by an injured bear</a> in 2018 when he stopped to photograph himself with the animal.</p>
<p>Tourists are often the culprits, but they’re not alone. As ocean scientist <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinewardpaige/">Christine Ward-Paige</a> explains, scientists who have special permission to handle wild animals as part of their field research sometimes use this opportunity to <a href="https://theconversation.com/even-scientists-take-selfies-with-wild-animals-heres-why-they-shouldnt-61252">take personal photos with their subjects</a>. </p>
<p>“I have witnessed the making of many researcher-animal selfies, including photos with restrained animals during scientific study,” Ward-Paige recounts. “In most cases, the animal was only held for an extra fraction of a second while vigilant researchers simply glanced up and smiled for the camera already pointing in their direction.”</p>
<p>“But some incidents have been more intrusive. In one instance, researchers had tied a large shark to a boat with ropes across its tail and gills so that they could measure, biopsy and tag it. Then they kept it restrained for an extra 10 minutes while the scientists took turns hugging it for photos.”</p>
<p>In Ward-Paige’s view, legitimizing wildlife selfies in this way encourages people who don’t have scientific training or understand animal behavior to think that taking them is OK. That undercuts warnings from agencies like the National Park Service and puts both people and animals in danger. </p>
<p>Instead, she urges fellow scientists to “work to show the vulnerability of our animal subjects more clearly” and help guide the public to observe wildlife safely and responsibly.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/even-scientists-take-selfies-with-wild-animals-heres-why-they-shouldnt-61252">Even scientists take selfies with wild animals. Here's why they shouldn't.</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The recent goring of a tourist who approached within 10 feet of a bison in Yellowstone National Park is a reminder that wild animals can be dangerous and people should keep safe distances.Jennifer Weeks, Senior Environment + Cities Editor, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1761942022-03-14T12:20:05Z2022-03-14T12:20:05ZWhy do flocks of birds swoop and swirl together in the sky? A biologist explains the science of murmurations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450675/original/file-20220308-21-1nhx7v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=325%2C135%2C4196%2C2542&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Murmurations can have as many as 750,000 birds flying in unison.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/murmuration-of-starlings-royalty-free-image/481428151">mikedabell/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
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<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why do flocks of birds swoop and swirl together in the sky? – Artie W., age 9, Astoria, New York</strong></p>
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<p>A shape-shifting flock of thousands of starlings, called a murmuration, is amazing to see. As many as 750,000 birds join together in flight. The birds spread out and come together. The flock splits apart and fuses together again. Murmurations constantly change direction, flying up a few hundred meters, then zooming down to almost crash to the ground. <a href="https://www.worldphoto.org/blogs/10-05-18/these-are-most-amazing-photos-starling-murmurations">They look like swirling blobs</a>, making teardrops, figure eights, columns and other shapes. A murmuration can move fast – starlings fly up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour).</p>
<p>The <a href="https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/eursta/cur/introduction">European or common starling</a>, like many birds, forms groups called flocks when foraging for food or migrating. But a murmuration is different. This special kind of flock is named for the sound of a low murmur it makes from thousands of wingbeats and soft flight calls.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Flight of the Starlings’ by Jan van IJken was shot in the Netherlands; the audio lets you hear how a murmuration gets its name.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Murmurations form about an hour before sunset in fall, winter and early spring, when the birds are near where they’ll sleep. After maybe 45 minutes of this spectacular aerial display, the birds all at once drop down into their roost for the night.</p>
<h2>Why do starlings form murmurations?</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-geese-know-how-to-fly-south-for-the-winter-149225">Unlike the V formations of migrating geese</a>, murmurations provide no aerodynamic advantage.</p>
<p>Scientists think a murmuration is a <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(11)01315-7.pdf">visual invitation to attract other starlings</a> to join a group night roost. One theory is that spending the night together <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179277">keeps the starlings warmer</a> as they share their body heat. It might also reduce the chance an individual bird would be eaten overnight by a predator such as an owl or <a href="https://animalia.bio/american-marten">marten</a>.</p>
<p>This dilution effect might be part of the reason murmurations happen: The more starlings in the flock, the lower the risk to any one bird of being the one that gets snagged by a predator. Predators are more likely to catch the nearest prey, so the swirling of a murmuration could happen as individual birds try to move toward the safer middle of the crowd. Scientists call this the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq157">selfish herd effect</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, the more birds in a flock, the more eyes and ears to detect the predator before it’s too late.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Murmuration’ by Sophie Windsor Clive & Liberty Smith.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And a gigantic mass of whirling, swirling birds can make it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-018-2609-0">hard to focus on a single target</a>. A falcon or hawk can get <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.07.006">confused and distracted by tricky wave patterns</a> in the murmuration’s movements. It also must be careful not to collide with the flock and get hurt. </p>
<p>Over <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179277">3,000 citizen scientist volunteers reported spotting murmurations</a> in a recent study. A third of them saw a raptor attack the murmuration. That observation suggests that murmurations do form to help protect the birds from predators – but it’s also possible a huge murmuration would be what attracted a hawk, for instance, in the first place. </p>
<h2>How do starlings coordinate their behavior?</h2>
<p>Murmurations have no leader and follow no plan. Instead, scientists believe movements are coordinated by starlings observing what others around them are doing. Birds in the middle can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1402202111">see through the flock on all sides</a> to its edge and beyond. Somehow they keep track of how the flock is moving as a whole and adjust accordingly. </p>
<p>To learn what’s happening inside murmurations, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.004">some researchers film them</a> using many cameras at the same time. Then they use computer programs to track the movements of individual starlings and create 3D models of the flock.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="equally spaced group of birds flying against blue sky" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450678/original/file-20220308-13-l69vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Within the murmuration, individual birds aren’t tightly packed together.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/murmuration-of-european-starlings-in-flight-across-royalty-free-image/1368050180">K C Bailey/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The videos reveal that the birds are not as densely packed as they might appear from the ground; there is room to maneuver. Starlings are closer to their side neighbors than those in front or behind. Starlings on the edge frequently move deeper into the flock.</p>
<p>Mathematicians and computer scientists try to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00285-021-01675-2">create virtual murmurations using rules</a> that birds might follow in a flock – like moving in the same direction as their neighbor, staying close and not colliding. From these simulations, it seems that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq149">each bird must keep track of seven neighbors</a> and adjust based on what they’re doing to keep the murmuration from falling apart in a chaotic mess. And they do all this while flying as fast as they can.</p>
<p>Large schools of fish can appear to behave like murmurations, as do groups of some swarming insects, including honeybees. All these synchronized movements can happen so fast within flocks, herds, swarms and schools that some scientists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.08.001">once thought it required animal ESP</a>!</p>
<p>Biologists, mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists and engineers are all working to figure out how animals carry out these displays. Curiosity drives this research, of course. But it may also have practical applications too, like helping develop autonomous vehicles that can travel in tight formation and work in coordinated groups without colliding.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Langen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>These coordinated movements of a flock of starlings follow no plan or leader. Scientists used to think the animals must communicate via ESP to create these fast-moving blobs.Tom Langen, Professor of Biology, Clarkson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1622232021-07-14T12:24:32Z2021-07-14T12:24:32ZDon’t hike so close to me: How the presence of humans can disturb wildlife up to half a mile away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409534/original/file-20210702-21-b9n87d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=55%2C15%2C1802%2C855&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What are you looking at?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/RvnoYa">Greg Shine, BLM/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of Americans are traveling this summer as pandemic restrictions wind down. <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/2021s-biggest-summer-travel-trend-the-great-outdoors">Rental bookings</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/overcrowded-us-national-parks-need-a-reservation-system-158864">crowds in national parks</a> show that many people are headed for the great outdoors.</p>
<p>Seeing animals and birds is one of the main draws of spending time in nature. But as researchers who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-Spw_2cAAAAJ&hl=en">conservation</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uflMR0gAAAAJ&hl=en">wildlife</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DHusKacAAAAJ&hl=en">human impacts on wild places</a>, we believe it’s important to know that you can have major effects on wildlife just by being nearby. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.44.63270">recent review</a> of hundreds of studies covering many species, we found that the presence of humans can alter wild animal and bird behavior patterns at much greater distances than most people may think. Small mammals and birds may change their behavior when hikers or birders come within 300 feet (100 meters) – the length of a football field. Large birds like eagles and hawks can be affected when humans are over 1,300 feet (400 meters) away – roughly a quarter of a mile. And large mammals like elk and moose can be affected by humans up to 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) away – more than half a mile. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Elk viewed over a hiker's shoulder." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409530/original/file-20210702-19-142k85b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A hiker about 75 feet from a bull elk in Yellowstone National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/YFPp56">Jacob W. Frank, NPS/Flickr</a></span>
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<p>Many recent studies and reports have shown that the world is facing a <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/">biodiversity crisis</a>. Over the past 50 years, Earth has lost so many species that many scientists believe the planet is experiencing its <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-mass-extinction-and-are-we-in-one-now-122535">sixth mass extinction</a> – due mainly to human activities. </p>
<p>Protected areas, from local open spaces to national parks, are vital for conserving plants and animals. They also are places where people like to spend time in nature. We believe that everyone who uses the outdoors should understand and respect this balance between outdoor recreation, sustainable use and conservation. </p>
<h2>How human presence affects wildlife</h2>
<p>Pandemic lockdowns in 2020 confined many people indoors – and wildlife responded. In Istanbul, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52459487">dolphins ventured much closer to shore than usual</a>. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/penguins-roads-2020-4">Penguins explored quiet South African Streets</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2021/jan/22/israels-ibex-make-the-most-of-lockdown-in-pictures">Nubian ibex grazed on Israeli playgrounds</a>. The fact that animals moved so freely without people present shows how wild species change their behavior in response to human activities.</p>
<p>Decades of research have shown that outdoor recreation, whether it’s hiking, cross-country skiing or riding all-terrain vehicles, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167259">has negative effects on wildlife</a>. The most obvious signs are behavioral changes: Animals may flee from nearby people, decrease the time they feed and abandon nests or dens.</p>
<p>Other effects are harder to see, but can have serious consequences for animals’ health and survival. Wild animals that detect humans can experience physiological changes, such as increased heart rates and elevated levels of stress hormones. </p>
<p>And humans’ outdoor activities can degrade habitat that wild species depend on for food, shelter and reproduction. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/humans-predators-mountain-lions-landscape-of-fear/594187/">Human voices</a>, <a href="https://www.oregonmetro.gov/sites/default/files/2017/09/28/impacts-of-dogs-on-wildlife-water-quality-science-review.pdf">off-leash dogs</a> and <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/your-campsite-destroying-nature/">campsite overuse</a> all have harmful effects that make habitat unusable for many wild species.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Disturbing shorebirds can cause them to stop eating, stop feeding their young or flee their nests, leaving chicks vulnerable.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Effects of human presence vary for different species</h2>
<p>For our study we examined 330 peer-reviewed articles spanning 38 years to locate thresholds at which recreation activities negatively affected wild animals and birds. The main thresholds we found were related to distances between wildlife and people or trails. But we also found other important factors, including the number of daily park visitors and the decibel levels of people’s conversations.</p>
<p>The studies that we reviewed covered over a dozen different types of motorized and nonmotorized recreation. While it might seem that motorized activities would have a bigger impact, some studies have found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2008.00019.x">dispersed “quiet” activities, such as day hiking, biking and wildlife viewing</a>, can also affect which wild species will use a protected area. </p>
<p>Put another way, many species may be disturbed by humans nearby, even if those people are not using motorboats or all-terrain vehicles. It’s harder for animals to detect quiet humans, so there’s a better chance that they’ll be surprised by a cross-country skier than a snowmobile, for instance. In addition, some species that have been historically hunted are more likely to recognize – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.026">and flee from – a person walking</a> than a person in a motorized vehicle.</p>
<p>Generally, larger animals need more distance, though the relationship is clearer for birds than mammals. We found that for birds, as bird size increased, so did the threshold distance. The smallest birds could tolerate humans within 65 feet (20 meters), while the largest birds had thresholds of roughly 2,000 feet (600 meters). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1590/s1984-46702015000600002">Previous research</a> has found a similar relationship. We did not find that this relationship existed as clearly for mammals.</p>
<p>We found little research on impact thresholds for amphibians and reptiles, such as lizards, frogs, turtles and snakes. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.538">growing body of evidence</a> shows that amphibians and reptiles are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.01.001">disturbed</a> and negatively affected by recreation. So far, however, it’s unclear whether those effects reflect mainly the distance to people, the number of visitors or other factors.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic showing distances at which human presence affects animals' behavior." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407795/original/file-20210623-26-n3youq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human recreation starts to affect wild creatures’ behavior and physical state at different distances. Small mammals and birds tolerate closer recreation than do larger birds of prey and large mammals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Markes</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to reduce your impact on wildlife</h2>
<p>While there’s much still to learn, we know enough to identify some simple actions people can take to minimize their impacts on wildlife. First, keep your distance. Although some species or individual animals will become used to human presence at close range, many others won’t. And it can be hard to tell when you are stressing an animal and potentially endangering both it and yourself. </p>
<p>Second, respect closed areas and stay on trails. For example, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, wildlife managers <a href="https://rootsrated.com/stories/dont-poach-the-powder-campaign-helps-protect-wildlife-in-the-winter">seasonally close some backcountry ski areas</a> to protect critical habitat for bighorn sheep and reduce stress on other species like moose, elk and mule deer. And rangers in Maine’s Acadia National Park <a href="https://www.nps.gov/acad/learn/news/trails-close-for-peregrine-nesting.htm">close several trails annually near peregrine falcon nests</a>. This reduces stress to nesting birds and has <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/peregrine-falcons-in-acadia.htm">helped this formerly endangered species recover</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B89vyKwFlsZ","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Getting involved with educational or volunteer programs is a great way to learn about wildlife and help maintain undisturbed areas. As our research shows, balancing recreation with conservation means opening some areas to human use and keeping others entirely or mostly undisturbed. </p>
<p>As development <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500052">fragments wild habitat</a> and climate change forces many species to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1913007117">shift their ranges</a>, movement corridors between protected areas become even more important. Our research suggests that creating recreation-free wildlife corridors of at least 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) wide can enable most species to move between protected areas without disturbance. Seeing wildlife can be part of a fun outdoor experience – but for the animals’ sake, you may need binoculars or a zoom lens for your camera.</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Dertien receives funding from Sonoma Land Trust</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Courtney Larson received funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Reed receives funding from Sonoma Land Trust. </span></em></p>Outdoor recreation is booming across the US, but research shows that the presence of humans – or the trails they hike and ski on – can have harmful effects on wildlife at less-than-close range.Jeremy Dertien, PhD Candidate in Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson UniversityCourtney Larson, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of WyomingSarah Reed, Affiliate Faculty in Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1313712020-03-02T12:19:08Z2020-03-02T12:19:08ZIt’s OK to feed wild birds – here are some tips for doing it the right way<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316802/original/file-20200224-24680-1nteqie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=56%2C18%2C6240%2C4128&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Costa's Hummingbirds are frequent visitors at feeders in Arizona and southern California.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Avery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.fws.gov/birds/bird-enthusiasts/backyard/bird-feeding.php">Millions of Americans</a> enjoy feeding and watching backyard birds. Many people make a point of putting food out in winter, when birds needs extra energy, and spring, when many species build nests and raise young.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uYWmAHMAAAAJ&hl=en">wildlife ecologist</a> and a birder, I know it’s important to understand how humans influence bird populations, whether feeding poses risks to wild birds, and how to engage with birds in sustainable ways. </p>
<p>There is still much to <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/the-condor/volume-121/issue-1/duy011/The-Birds-at-My-Table--Why-We-Feed-Wild/10.1093/condor/duy011.pdf">learn about the risks</a> and benefits of feeding birds, particularly through large integrated national citizen science networks like <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/30-years-of-project-feederwatch-yield-new-insights-about-backyard-birds/">Project FeederWatch</a>. But we now have enough information to promote healthy interactions that can inspire future generations to care about conservation.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B8wveutAwkR","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>A long-term relationship</h2>
<p>Birds have been taking advantage of human civilization for thousands of years, congregating where grains and waste are abundant. This means that people have been influencing the abundance and distribution of species for a very long time.</p>
<p>Studies show that providing food has myriad effects on birds’ decisions, behaviors and reproduction. One significant finding is that winter bird feeding increases individual survival rates, can encourage birds to lay eggs earlier in the year, and can also improve nestling survival. </p>
<p>All of these factors alter species’ future reproductive performance and can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0622">increase total bird abundance in later years</a>. It’s not always clear how increased abundance of feeder birds impacts other species through competition, but rarer and smaller species can be <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-136-bird-species-show-up-at-a-feeder-which-one-wins/">excluded</a>. </p>
<iframe src="https://feederwatch.org/wp-content/themes/feederwatch/behavioral-interactions.html" width="100%" height="800" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<p><em>This interactive diagram, based on citizen science data, shows how North America’s top 13 feeder species fare when they compete at feeders. Credit: <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-136-bird-species-show-up-at-a-feeder-which-one-wins/">Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a></em></p>
<p>Supplemental food has also led to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02002">reduced reproductive success</a> in a few species. This may happen because it improves survival odds for less healthy birds that otherwise would be unlikely to survive and reproduce, or because it leads birds to eat fewer types of natural foods, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/060152">making their diets less nourishing</a>. </p>
<h2>Changing bird behavior</h2>
<p>Research also shows that birds are extremely promiscuous. One review examined 342 species and found that in approximately 75%, birds had one or more side partners <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15259">in addition to their nest mate</a>. </p>
<p>It’s not always clear why birds cheat, but several studies have found that supplemental feeding can reduce the amount of infidelity in certain species, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arg059">house sparrows</a>. This hints that feeding birds might alter their behavior and have an effect on genetic variation in urban populations. </p>
<p>For birds that provide pollinating services, like hummingbirds and lorikeets, there is some evidence that providing them with sugar water – which mimics the nectar they collect from plants – can reduce their visits to native plants. This means they will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.11.016">transfer less pollen</a>. Since much bird feeding happens in densely populated urban areas, it’s unclear how much impact this might have. </p>
<p>Some bird populations depend completely on feeding and would collapse over the winter without it. For example, <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Annas_Hummingbird/id">Anna’s hummingbirds</a> in British Columbia rely on heated feeders. Other species, such as hummingbirds in the southwest U.S., have become more locally abundant. <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_cardinal">Northern cardinals</a> and <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_goldfinch">American goldfinches</a> have shifted and <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/30-years-of-project-feederwatch-yield-new-insights-about-backyard-birds/">expanded</a> their ranges <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00024">northward with the availability of food</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317842/original/file-20200228-24659-qaas3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Data from Project FeederWatch show Northern Cardinal populations expanding into the upper Midwest, northern New England, the Southwest and southeastern Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/30-years-of-project-feederwatch-yield-new-insights-about-backyard-birds/">Virginia Greene/Cornell Lab of Ornithology</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In one incredible instance, garden feeders seem to have played a role in establishing a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34274209">new wintering population</a> of migratory <a href="https://ebird.org/species/blackc1">blackcaps</a> in the United Kingdom. This group is now genetically distinct from the rest of the population, which migrates further south to Mediterranean wintering grounds.</p>
<h2>Don’t feed the predators</h2>
<p>Scientists still know little about how bird feeding affects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0012215">transmission of pathogens</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00024">parasites</a> among birds. It is not uncommon for birds at feeders to carry more pathogens than populations away from feeders. Some <a href="https://feederwatch.org/learn/sick-birds-and-bird-diseases/">well-documented outbreaks</a> in the U.S. and U.K. have shown that feeding birds can increase problems associated with disease – evidence that was collected through feeder watch citizen science projects. </p>
<p>Because we still have a poor understanding of pathogen transmission and prevalence in urban areas, it is extremely important to follow <a href="https://feederwatch.org/learn/feeding-birds/">hygiene guidelines</a> for feeding and be alert for new recommendations.</p>
<p>Feeding can also attract predators. Domestic cats kill an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2380">estimated 1.3 to 4 billion birds</a> in the U.S. every year. Feeders should not be placed in settings where cats are present, and pet cats should be <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/faq-outdoor-cats-and-their-effects-on-birds/">kept indoors</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317680/original/file-20200227-24680-34p4ih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The band on this black-capped chickadee’s right leg assigns the bird a unique number. Scientists band birds to study their ranges, migration, life spans and other questions. The feeder holds suet, a high-energy food made from animal fat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Avery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feeders can also support both native and introduced birds that outcompete local species. One study found that feeders attracted high numbers of <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/overview">crows</a>, which prey on other birds’ chicks, with the result that less than 1% of nearby <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_robin">American robin</a> nests <a href="https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-16-72.1">fledged young</a>. In New Zealand, bird feeding largely benefits seed-eating introduced species <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00024">at the expense of native birds</a>.</p>
<h2>Clean feeders and diverse diets</h2>
<p>The good news is that studies do not show birds becoming dependent on supplemental food. Once started, though, it is important to maintain a steady food supply during harsh weather. </p>
<p>Birds also need <a href="https://feederwatch.org/learn/feeding-birds/">access to native plants</a>, which provide them with habitat, food and insect prey that can both supplement diets and support species that don’t eat seeds at feeders. Diverse food resources can counteract some of the negative findings I’ve mentioned related to competition between species and impacts on bird diets. </p>
<p>Good maintenance, placement and cleaning can help minimize the likelihood of promoting pathogens at feeders. Initiatives like Project FeederWatch have recommendations about feeder design and practices to avoid. For example, platform feeders, where birds wade through the food, are associated with higher mortality, possibly through <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3782285?seq=1">mixing of waste and food</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317675/original/file-20200227-24680-vuk8s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Treatments on this window at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center prevent birds from thinking they can fly straight through the building and colliding with the glass.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Avery</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s also important to manage the area around feeders. Be sure to place feeders in ways that minimize the likelihood that birds will fly into windows. For instance, avoid providing a sight line through a house, which birds may perceive as a corridor, and break up window reflections with decals. </p>
<p>There are lots of great reasons to bring birds into your life. Evidence is growing that interacting with nature is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.17">good for our mental health</a> and builds public support for conserving plants and wildlife. In my view, these benefits outweigh many of the potential negatives of bird feeding. And if you get involved in a citizen science project, you can help scientists track the health and behavior of your wild guests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Avery does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Millions of Americans feed wild birds, especially in winter and spring. Studies show that this can influence birds’ health and behavior in surprising ways.Julian Avery, Associate Research Professor of Wildlife Conservation, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1263982020-01-27T12:19:14Z2020-01-27T12:19:14ZWhat is white-nose syndrome in bats?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310004/original/file-20200114-151876-zaicwr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1266%2C846&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dr. Winifred Frick examines a bat for white-nose syndrome.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Hicks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>What is white-nose syndrome in bats? – Minti F., age 13, Boston, Massachusetts</p>
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<p>Scientists count bats in the winter to make sure their populations are doing okay. They look in caves and abandoned mines where bats hibernate when it is too cold to hunt for insects to eat.</p>
<p>About 10 years ago, during their annual winter bat counts, scientists noticed that bats in caves in New York state were dying. The bats that were still alive had a white fuzzy growth on their muzzles and wings. Scientists didn’t know what it was and named it <a href="https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/static-page/what-is-white-nose-syndrome">white-nose syndrome</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310016/original/file-20200114-151876-ezxm9e.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Little brown bats with white-nose syndrome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Hicks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Now we know a lot more about white-nose syndrome, a disease that kills bats when they hibernate. I am <a href="http://frick.eeb.ucsc.edu/">a scientist who studies bats</a> to learn more about how to protect them. </p>
<h2>A fungus that infects hibernating bats</h2>
<p>The white-nose syndrome disease is caused by a fungus that grows on bats’ skin when they are trying to survive winter by hibernating in cold, dark subterranean habitats like mines and caves. <a href="http://www.batcon.org/why-bats/bats-are/bats-are-important">Bats are mammals</a> like you. But unlike people, they have a special ability to “go cold” to save energy when there isn’t anything to eat. This is called torpor.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310003/original/file-20200114-151825-14pvdwj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Hibernating tri-colored bat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Winifred Frick</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>The fungus that causes this disease can live on the walls of caves and mines. It grows best in cold temperatures and infects bats when their immune system, which fights infection, isn’t as active. </p>
<p>Bats have skin on their wings, muzzles and a membrane that connects between their tail and hind legs. The fungus eats into those skin tissues, causing lesions. The infection causes the bats to wake up from their energy-saving torpor. Bats can’t survive for long in the middle of winter without food, and they starve to death.</p>
<p>Bats started dying by the thousands in the winter of 2006-2007, sounding the alarm that something was seriously wrong. Some bat species are more vulnerable to the disease, like the northern long-eared bat, the little brown bat and the tri-colored bat. </p>
<p>We estimate that millions of bats across North America have died as the fungus has spread. Bats need our help. In the past 10 years, many wildlife biologists have worked hard to help bats survive. There are no easy solutions, but a lot of scientific research is underway to discover how we can protect bats.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em>
<em>Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126398/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Winifred Frick works for Bat Conservation International, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting bat populations around the world.</span></em></p>Researchers are puzzled by a fungus that is killing millions of bats.Winifred Frick, Associate Research Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa CruzLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1284982019-12-09T15:25:21Z2019-12-09T15:25:21ZGreenwashing? Why wildlife TV is finally engaging with the climate emergency<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305873/original/file-20191209-90609-c7afr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">St Andrews Bay, South Georgia. A colony of young penguin chicks wait for their parents to return with food.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC Studios/Fredi Devas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The BBC’s new wildlife television series featuring <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0041003/">David Attenborough</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p07dzjwl/seven-worlds-one-planet">Seven Worlds, One Planet</a>, marks a drastic departure from previous programmes. For the first time, the presenter can be heard repeatedly uttering the phrase “climate change” in a BBC documentary otherwise devoted to exploring and explaining animals’ behaviour and how they adapt to their environment.</p>
<p>The series marks a turn in the history of wildlife television broadcasting. In the UK, it is being celebrated as the long-awaited engagement of one of the most trusted public figures with the most pressing issue of our time. But why has it taken so long, and how will it shape the genre going forward?</p>
<p>Critics might want to claim that the move is simply a case of “greenwashing” – the BBC jumping on the bandwagon of the climate emergency so that its wildlife programming remains relevant. </p>
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<p>But the BBC has already produced specific <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002sh15/episodes/guide">programmes on climate change</a>, also featuring David Attenborough, over the past two decades. It just hasn’t integrated climate change into wildlife TV until now.</p>
<p>As I show in my new book, <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030199814">BBC Wildlife Documentaries in the Age of Attenborough</a>, wildlife television’s main environmental focus has traditionally been the conservation of biodiversity. When <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Hawkins">Desmond Hawkins</a> created the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU) in 1957, one of his objectives was to instil a sense of the value of protecting nature in audiences. </p>
<p>One line of argument in favour of this project was philosophical and aesthetic. This framed nature as indispensable to humans as a source of solace and regeneration in the aftermath of the second world war. Another argument was moral and framed wildlife as heirloom. Humans had a duty of care towards other forms of life on the planet, so that future generations could enjoy them.</p>
<p>As part of this approach, viewers were encouraged to develop an emotional attachment to wildlife, making them more inclined to support conservation. In one of the most celebrated wildlife TV sequences of all times, from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135095/">Life on Earth (BBC, 1979)</a>, Attenborough appears to cuddle with mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Emphasising how much common ground exists between humans and big apes, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Air-David-Attenborough/dp/1849900019">it is credited</a> with having been instrumental in kickstarting fundraising for the protection of mountain gorillas.</p>
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<p>But when it came to the environment, British wildlife TV took an allusive approach rather than a head-on one. That’s because producers thought that programmes with an unambiguous focus on environmental issues could only be structured around “doom and gloom” stories – scaring away the large audiences that wanted to experience the wonders of wildlife. </p>
<h2>A daring way forward</h2>
<p>This kind of tactic could only go so far, though. Forty years on, and the makers of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/04/wildlife-series-finally-addresses-elephant-room/586066/">Our Planet (Netflix, 2019)</a> finally did away with it. They provided viewers with uncompromising depictions of the consequences of climate change on wildlife. The now famous and disturbing sequence of walruses falling off a cliff in north-east Russia in the second episode of the series, has come to epitomise this new “show it like it is” approach. </p>
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<p>In response, the BBC likewise chose to be uncompromising in its portrayal of climate change’s impact on animals’ existence. The dramatic sequence of a grey-headed albatross chick blown off its nest during a storm induced by climate change in Seven Worlds, One Planet is similarly hard to forget.</p>
<p>Yet, none of these two series can be said to have gone down the “doom and gloom” pathway seen in many previous documentaries about climate change. On the contrary, the overall message is rather positive, one of hope. How come?</p>
<p>Throughout <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030199814">the history of wildlife television</a>, filmmakers have been adept at talking to scientists, enabling them to use cutting-edge research to renew the stories they tell. Wildlife, after all, does not change very much. And research highlights the value of wildlife conservation as one of the solutions to the climate crisis. For example, a recent study demonstrated that tropical forests with a thriving population of elephants <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334471572_Carbon_stocks_in_central_African_forests_enhanced_by_elephant_disturbance">absorb significantly higher volumes of carbon dioxide</a> than tropical forests without such animals.</p>
<p>Building on such research showing that environmental issues are connected, it becomes possible to make a positive case for wildlife conservation – beyond the moral or aesthetic arguments that prevailed in the past. </p>
<p>That climate change <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-world-biggest-problems-concerning-millennials-2016-8?r=US&IR=T#1-climate-change-destruction-of-nature-488-10">regularly polls</a> in the top three issues of concern in global populations, as extreme weather events <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-means-more-extreme-weather-heres-what-the-uk-can-expect-if-emissions-keep-increasing-112745">follow one another</a>, has obviously helped drive this change. The ability to offer hope in the shape of solutions to global warming therefore presents wildlife filmmakers with new storytelling opportunities that can draw large audiences. </p>
<p>For the first time in <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030199814">the history of wildlife filmmaking</a>, the conservation of wildlife can be presented as holding the promise of a happy ending, in ways that are relevant to a large segment of the world population. Our Planet and Seven Worlds, One Planet therefore mark the start of a new era for wildlife television – one which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/04/attenborough-dynasties-ecological-campaign">doesn’t shy away from</a> political and environmental problems.</p>
<p>And the trend looks set to continue. Each episode of Seven Worlds, One Planet consistently drew around 8 million viewers in the UK, whereas Our Planet boasted 33 million worldwide. In the coming years, wildlife broadcasters are likely to keep using this new story line, foregrounding the climate crisis as evidence that wildlife conservation is more necessary than ever. </p>
<p>Ultimately, wildlife television’s long-awaited engagement with climate change is not greenwashing. Instead, it is the outcome of new research enabling producers to integrate the defining issue of our time in their main narrative framework – and offering hope.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean-Baptiste Gouyon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Wildlife TV producers used to think that focus on environmental issues could only be structured around doom and gloom stories – scaring away large audiences.Jean-Baptiste Gouyon, Associate professor in Science Communication, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1263072019-11-25T13:27:37Z2019-11-25T13:27:37ZWhat can you learn from studying an animal’s scat?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302721/original/file-20191120-554-1v1c8y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4912%2C3264&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bear leaving its calling card.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/QgdUR4">Dean Harvey/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
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<p><strong>What can you learn from studying an animal’s scat? – Cora, age 9, Brookline, Massachusetts</strong></p>
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<p>Everybody poops. There are even <a href="https://www.whatdowedoallday.com/kids-books-about-poop-thats-right/">whole books</a> written about it. And we can learn a lot about animals from what they leave behind. </p>
<p>Scientists study animal poop, also called scat, to learn about the hidden lives of animals. We can find scat in the wild and know what type of animal left it based on its shape, size and contents. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=flol3JUAAAAJ&hl=en">I study mammals</a>, so I know that a pile of brown pellet-shaped scat that’s about the size of chocolate-covered raisins could be a sign that there are white-tailed deer in the area. Bigger, tube-shaped scat with hair and bones in it might be from a coyote.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Smithsonian National Zoo uses scat to assess lions’ health.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Scat can tell us a lot about an animal’s diet, habits and movement, so scientists like to study it both in nature and in the lab. Outdoors, scat can identify what animals are present in an area. Then researchers take it to a lab, dry it out and dissect it for clues about the animal’s diet. </p>
<p>Some mammal poop is full of seeds, which shows that the animal eats fruit or berries. Or it might contain bones and fur, which scientists can identify to learn what species that animal is eating. </p>
<p>Animal scat also contains DNA – molecules inside the cells of organisms that carry genetic information. Extracting DNA from scat is a <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/center-for-conservation-genomics/non-invasive-dna">non-invasive</a> way to study animals, since scientists don’t need to handle the animals to learn about them. </p>
<p>DNA from scat can tell scientists about the genetic health of a species, who is occupying what territory, and the relationships of groups of animals in a particular area. For example, DNA from the scat of <a href="https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2019/tiger-scat-dna-conservation">rare Bengal tigers in India</a> helped scientists estimate how many tigers were in an area, see where individual animals were traveling and better understand their genetic relationships. </p>
<p>Studying animal scat can also support conservation. Some researchers have trained dogs to <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191030082827.htm">sniff out the scat of endangered species</a>, such as the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/sacramento/es_species/Accounts/Amphibians-Reptiles/blunt_nosed_leopad_lizard/">blunt-nosed leopard lizard</a>, which is found only in a few grasslands in central California. By locating an endangered animal’s scat, scientists can estimate how many of that species are left in an area, analyze its diet and do DNA testing without having to disturb it.</p>
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<p>It’s not hard to find scat if you know where to look. Some mammals, such as coyotes and bobcats, like to poop in the middle of trails or trail crossings. Others, like porcupines, do their business at the bases of trees. <a href="http://www.falcon.com/book/9781493009961">Guidebooks</a> and <a href="https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/big-features/scattergories-the-scoop-on-animal-poop">websites</a> can tell you what kinds of scat you’re likely to find in your area.</p>
<p>It is important never to pick up scat with bare hands, since you don’t know what kind of diseases might be present. But you can use a stick to look at it and see if you can figure out what the animal was eating, or take pictures and look in a guide to identify the creature that left it behind.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Verity Mathis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An animal’s poop may seem like something to avoid, but it’s full of information about the creature that left it there.Verity Mathis, Mammal Collections Manager, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1188992019-07-31T11:43:15Z2019-07-31T11:43:15ZBlack bears adapt to life near humans by burning the midnight oil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286100/original/file-20190729-43145-hu037l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black bear near military housing at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle, May 17, 2010.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.defense.gov/2009/Jun/24/2000538647/-1/-1/0/090624-F-6367W-001.JPG">USAF/Kathy Gault</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amid reports that human activities are pushing many wild species to the edge of extinction, it’s easy to miss the fact that some animal populations are expanding. Across North America, a number of species that were reduced by overhunting and loss of forested habitat in the 1800s are <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/56d4/afbb6a1b80b25fae122ba80885d6fe240448.pdf">rebounding</a>. This sometimes results in wildlife living near populated areas. </p>
<p>In a recent study, my colleagues <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mjtNMbgAAAAJ&hl=en">and I</a> analyzed one of these comeback species: <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41687/114251609">American black bears</a> (<em>Ursus americanus</em>). In the early 1900s, black bears were relegated to more wild parts of North America. Today, thanks to regulated hunting and forest regrowth, they have returned to about <a href="https://doi.org/10.2192/URSUS-D-12-00020.1">75% of their historic North American range</a>. An estimated <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41687/114251609#population">1 million black bears</a> now roam from Mexico to Canada and Alaska. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286094/original/file-20190729-43104-dutmkd.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Since the mid-1990s, black bears have expanded their ranges across densely populated states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/images/bear/bear_sightings_map95-14.gif">NJDFW</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Massachusetts, where we worked, black bears have expanded from a small isolated population in the Berkshire Mountains to an <a href="https://www.mass.gov/service-details/learn-about-black-bears">estimated 4,500 bears</a> across the state. Massachusetts is the third-most densely populated state in the nation, and human development is expanding, sometimes putting bears and people in close proximity to one another. </p>
<p>Other scholars have found that bears <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.04.014">shift their behavior from natural areas to human-dominated ones</a> in years when natural foods are scarce. My co-authors and I wanted to know how bears in Massachusetts were behaving around people and human activity. We found that in spring and fall, bears were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-019-0166-4">altering their natural daily rhythms</a> to move through human-developed areas at night.</p>
<h2>A nose for human food</h2>
<p>Why would black bears use populated areas? They are omnivorous opportunists with a good sense of smell, and can sniff out calorie-rich foods that often are found in developed areas, such as bird seed, pet food, garbage and even agricultural crops. These foods may be especially attractive to bears before and after hibernation, when the animals are living solely off stored body fat. </p>
<p>Before hibernation in the fall, bears enter a metabolic state called hyperphagia – literally, excessive eating – in which they consume 15,000 to 20,000 calories a day. That’s roughly equivalent to eight large cheese pizzas or five gallons of chocolate ice cream. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281483/original/file-20190626-76701-17tzgre.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1061&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A black bear steals a snack from a bird feeder.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During hibernation bears can lose up to one-third of their body weight. And after they emerge from their dens in springtime, natural foods are typically scarce until plants start to leaf out and flower. </p>
<p>Black bears’ energy requirements during these phases can drive their behavior. We examined data from 76 black bear GPS collars across central and western Massachusetts. As expected, the bears we tracked <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-019-0166-4">moved around more in daytime than at night</a>, and avoided humans and developed areas during the day. However, we also found that in spring and fall, when the bears had increased caloric demands, they altered their natural daily rhythms to move through human-developed areas at night. </p>
<h2>Balancing rewards and risk</h2>
<p>Our findings and existing knowledge about black bears’ seasonal energetic demands indicate that bears may be operating in a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/z01-094">landscape of fear</a>” – a conceptual model that ecologists originally developed in studies of prey species such as elk. Viewed through this framework, an individual animal’s behavior is the result of a cost-benefit analysis that trades off food reward against risk. For black bears, the reward is high-calorie supplemental food and the risk is encounters with humans. </p>
<p>In spring when natural foods are scarce, and in fall when bears need to gain weight for hibernation, the attraction of food rewards outweighs the associated risks. Still, bears try to mitigate this risk as much as possible by altering their natural activity patterns to visit developed areas at night, when human activity is lowest. </p>
<p>In summer, when natural foods are more abundant and bears are least metabolically stressed, we did not observe these behavioral changes. Bears avoided developed areas at all times of day.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286098/original/file-20190729-43153-fsezyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Easy dinner pickings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/bAcMMb">Florida Fish and Wildlife</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A wild bear becomes suburbanized</h2>
<p>The story was more nuanced when we considered individual bears. We developed movement models for each of our collared bears, and found that their responses to some landscape features varied.</p>
<p>For example, we found some bears avoided human development less than others. These bears lived in more populated areas, with densities in their territories of at least 190 houses per square mile (75 houses per square kilometer). Planners classify such areas as <a href="http://www.mapc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Massachusetts-Community-Types-Summary-July_2008.pdf">country suburbs</a> or <a href="https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/blog/archives/2016/04">early suburbanization</a>. </p>
<p>Our findings indicate that black bears can adjust from living in more natural areas to living in areas with some human development. Factors such as the distribution of bears in an area and the availability of open territories may affect their willingness to settle near humans.</p>
<h2>Getting along with the neighbors</h2>
<p>Our observation of black bears acclimating to developed areas and becoming more nocturnal echoes a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aar7121">wider trend observed among wildlife worldwide</a>. Wild animals are increasing their nocturnal activity in response to development and other human activities, such as hiking, biking and farming. Understanding how, when and why these nocturnal shifts occur can help prevent wildlife-human conflict and keep both people and animals safe. </p>
<p>For example, most human-bear conflict arises from people inadvertently making calorie-rich foods, like bird seed, garbage and pet food, available to bears. Knowing that bears seek out these foods more often at night and in areas with certain housing densities can help managers educate people in avoiding conflict. And people who are scared of bears may be comforted to know that most of the time, black bears are just as scared of them.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118899/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathy Zeller receives funding from the Massachusetts State Wildlife Grants program in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife, and Sport Fish Restoration Program; the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife; the Massachusetts Division of Conservation and Recreation; and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation</span></em></p>Once hunted into corners of North America, black bears have expanded across the continent since the early 1900s. But bears that end up living near people aren’t seeking close encounters.Kathy Zeller, Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Conservation, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1122102019-02-28T11:40:26Z2019-02-28T11:40:26ZSequencing the white shark genome is cool, but for bigger insights we need libraries of genetic data<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261107/original/file-20190226-150721-1uq4xlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Of more than 500 species of sharks in the world's oceans, scientists have only sequenced a handful of genomes – most recently, white sharks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/White_shark.jpg">Terry Goss/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The headlines are eye-catching: Scientists have sequenced the genome of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819778116">white sharks</a>. Or the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-018-4841-4">bamboo lemur</a>, or the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0095599">golden eagle</a>. But why spend so much time and money figuring out the DNA makeup of different species?</p>
<p>I am an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FKrC4FYAAAAJ&hl=en">evolutionary biologist</a> at the <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/sharks/">Florida Program for Shark Research</a>. Our research focuses on understanding <a href="https://sharksrays.org">how modern sharks and rays diversified</a> over the course of their evolution to colonize the habitats they occupy today. </p>
<p>Rough screening of whole genomes is useful to help identify genetic markers (sequences of genes) to better understand population-level processes. But the real and enduring value of whole genome sequencing is only realized when a lot of accurate, high-resolution genomes are amassed that can be compared with one another. This type of work is just getting started.</p>
<h2>Blueprints without instructions</h2>
<p>An organism’s genome – the complete catalog of its DNA – holds the blueprint for its design. Differences in the DNA sequences that make up genomes are responsible for the differences we see among individuals. </p>
<p>Identical twins are physically similar to one another because their genomes are identical. Siblings resemble each other because they inherit large stretches of their genomes from the same set of parents. And closely related species look more similar to each other than do those that are more distantly related, because their underlying genomes are more similar.</p>
<p>It follows that if we had a complete genome sequence for an organism, we would have all the information we’d need to understand how it works “from the ground up.” Indeed, this was the justification for the initial <a href="https://www.genome.gov/12011238/an-overview-of-the-human-genome-project/">Human Genome Project</a> </p>
<p>But an organism’s genomic DNA sequence can contain billions of <a href="http://knowgenetics.org/nucleotides-and-bases/">nucleotides</a>, or genetic building blocks. Trying to piece together what that organism might look like from its genome sequence would be like trying to make sense of thousands of concurrently transmitted telephone conversations from the “packets” of information that arrive at the receiving end of a fiber-optic telephone cable, without knowing anything about how the information was organized. The data is “all there,” but it’s hard to know what it means without an explicit interpreter. And scientists do not yet know how all of the information in genomes is organized, or how its activity is choreographed.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261105/original/file-20190226-150698-16cc1zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bases are the part of DNA that stores information and gives DNA the ability to encode phenotype – a person’s visible traits. There are four types of bases in DNA: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://knowgenetics.org/nucleotides-and-bases/">National Human Genome Research Institute</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learning by comparing</h2>
<p>If it’s so hard to interpret information buried in genomes, why bother collecting the data? The answer is that if we compare genomes against one another, we can deduce which elements are responsible for particular traits. </p>
<p>For example, humans and chimpanzees have genomes that are approximately 98 percent similar. This means that the 2 percent difference between their respective genomes must somehow account for the differences in their appearance and associated traits. Comparing the genomes side by side allows us to identify the parts of the genome responsible for the observed differences. </p>
<p>Obviously, it is important to choose carefully which comparisons to make. Comparing a human genome with a duck-billed platypus genome isn’t going to tell us much about what makes humans – or duck-billed platypuses, for that matter – so “special.” The two species diverged about 150 million years ago, and there are so many differences in their genomes and in the traits they exhibit that it would be impossible to know which genomic differences were responsible for which traits.</p>
<p>However, comparing human and platypus genomes (two mammals) against a bird genome would allow us to identify aspects of human and platypus genomes that were shared, but distinct from the bird genome. And in turn, comparing genomes of several mammals and birds against genomes of amphibians would help us narrow down what genomic elements birds and mammals had in common that were different from amphibians. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261307/original/file-20190227-150718-1ov71oy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Genomic information can help scientists understand evolutionary relationships among related species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/her/tree-of-life/a/building-an-evolutionary-tree">Robert Bear et al/Khan Academy</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building genetic libraries</h2>
<p>Hierarchical comparisons like the one described above lie at the core of <a href="https://www.genome.gov/11509542/comparative-genomics-fact-sheet/">comparative genomics</a>, a field that sets out to understand how patterns of variation in genomes are associated with, or “map to,” patterns of variation in observable traits. Biologists refer to this set of associations as the “genotype-phenotype map.” </p>
<p>Obviously, scientists need to know the evolutionary relationships among organisms before any of this can be done, and to make sure the genomic information we collect is accurate. If it is inaccurate or incomplete, we risk missing important associations between genotypes and the traits they code for.</p>
<p>Recent advances in next-generation DNA sequencing and computer science are revolutionizing the collection and analysis of this data. But it’s still expensive. It costs about US$30,000 to sequence and assemble a 2.5 billion base pair genome (for comparison, the human genome has about 3 billion base pairs) with sufficient accuracy to be useful for comparative genomic work - and more for larger genomes, such as that of the lungfish or the salamander.</p>
<p>An international consortium of scientists is working to collect <a href="https://vertebrategenomesproject.org">high-quality genome sequences for all vertebrate animals</a> that meet this standard. Initial comparisons are focusing on species selected to represent the evolutionary diversity of different groups of vertebrates – a carefully vetted set of birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians and fishes. In September 2018 the project released its <a href="https://vertebrategenomesproject.org/news/">first 15 high-quality reference genomes</a> for species including the Canadian lynx, zebra finch and blunt-snouted clingfish.</p>
<p>Subsequent comparisons will fill in the evolutionary gaps, until we eventually have a complete set of highly accurate genomes that can be compared with one another. These highly accurate genomes will improve our understanding of the genotype-phenotype map. They also will serve as as references for researchers trying to understand the role different genes play in guiding normal development, and for others exploring likely causes of developmental anomalies, birth defects and genetic diseases. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261103/original/file-20190226-150705-1cf1ios.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other sequencing initiatives are less focused on obtaining highly accurate and/or complete genomes for comparative genomic work. Many are essentially “fishing expeditions,” looking to see if something interesting shows up, or to identify molecular markers that can subsequently be used for management and conservation efforts. For example, the recently published white shark genome found that olfactory genes were not as abundant as expected given white sharks’ good sense of smell, and that white sharks have a higher proportion of transposable elements – DNA sequences that can move from one location on the genome to another – than is typical.</p>
<p>Such projects are usually much less expensive, since they are not designed to obtain high-resolution genomic maps with complete coverage of the genome. Unfortunately, they have limited utility for downstream research. They are generally too incomplete to be useful for developmental biologists, and are of limited use for understanding the genotype-phenotype map. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, they do serve to spur public interest in the burgeoning field of genomics, which is already having a big impact in fields ranging from basic biology to applied personalized medicine. As more high-resolution genomes are gathered and compared, we can expect that our understanding of the architectures underpinning different life forms will expand exponentially.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112210/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Naylor receives funding from the National Science Foundation and from the Lenfest Ocean Program</span></em></p>Why do scientists spend so much time and money mapping the DNA of species like white sharks? Single studies may offer insights, but the real payoff comes in comparing many species to each other.Gavin Naylor, Director, Florida Program for Shark Research, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/948082018-08-22T10:36:45Z2018-08-22T10:36:45ZMany native animals and birds thrive in burned forests, research shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232596/original/file-20180820-30599-1fvje07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Northern Spotted Owl in Oregon's Deschutes National Forest.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Owl-vs-Owl/a3a98fcc92a14782bbeba0715a11816b/42/0">AP Photo/Don Ryan, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/08/08/active-forest-management-prevent-wildfires-column/913801002/">blaming this summer’s large-scale wildfires on environmentalists</a>, who he contends oppose <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/climate/100000006060631/zinke-blames-california-fires-on-gross-mismanagement.html">“active management</a>” in forests. </p>
<p>But the idea that wildfires should be suppressed by logging the forest is far too simplistic. Most scientists agree that large hot wildfires produce many benefits for North American forests. Notably, they <a href="https://forestlegacies.org/images/projects/wildfire-report-2018.pdf">create essential habitat for many native species</a>. </p>
<p>Fifteen years of research on Spotted Owls – a species that has played an oversized role in shaping U.S. forest management policies and practices for the past several decades – directly contradicts the argument that logging is needed to protect wildlife from fires. Wildlife biologists, including me, have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=35An-xcAAAAJ&hl=en">shown</a> in a <a href="https://dereklee.scienceblog.com/56/the-science-of-forest-fire-and-spotted-owls/">string of peer-reviewed studies</a>, that wildfires have little to no effect on Spotted Owls’ occupancy, reproduction or foraging, and even provide benefits to the owls.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, despite this steadily accumulating evidence, the U.S. Forest Service advocates <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/107696_FSPLT3_4053504.pdf">logging in old-growth forest reserves</a> and <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/nfs/11558/www/nepa/65653_FSPLT3_3016408.pdf">Spotted Owl critical habitat</a> in the name of <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd571788.pdf">protecting Spotted Owls from forest fires</a>. Zinke’s recent statements are just the latest and broadest iteration of the false viewpoint that logging benefits wildlife and their forest habitats.</p>
<h2>Protecting Spotted Owl habitat</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Owl/overview">Spotted Owls</a> are birds of prey that range from the Pacific Northwest to central Mexico. Because they nest in large old-growth trees and are sensitive to logging, in the 1980s they became symbols of the <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr118.pdf">exceptional biodiversity found in old-growth forests</a>. </p>
<p>The Northern Spotted Owl in the Pacific Northwest was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1990. At that point, about 90 percent of U.S. old-growth forest <a href="https://books.google.ch/books?id=PQO8BwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">had already been lost to logging</a>. Every year in the 1980s the U.S. Forest Service sold about 7 to 12 billion board feet of public lands timber.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221329/original/file-20180601-142083-1dh7abz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1. National forest timber sales (1905–2017).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">FY 1905-2017 National Summary Cut and Sold Data USDA Forest Service</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Listing the owl drew attention to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/enrd/ecosystem-management-northwest-forest-plan-and-old-growth-dependent-species">dramatic decline of old-growth forest ecosystems</a> due to 50 years of unsustainable logging practices. In response the U.S. Forest Service adopted <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/landmanagement/planning/?cid=fsbdev2_026990">new regulations</a> that included fewer clearcuts, less cutting of trees over 30 inches in diameter and fewer cuts that opened up too much of the forest canopy. These policies, along with vast depletion of old-growth forests, reduced logging on Forest Service lands to about 2 billion board feet per year.</p>
<p>During the 1990s, national forest management policy for the Northern Spotted Owl included creating old-growth reserves and designating critical habitat where logging was restricted – mostly within half a mile of a Spotted Owl nest. In spite of these protections, populations of Northern Spotted Owls, as well as California and Mexican Spotted Owls, continued to decline <a href="https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-16-66.1">on forest lands outside national parks</a>. This was most likely due to ongoing logging outside of their protected nesting areas in the owls’ much larger year-round home ranges. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1207&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232937/original/file-20180821-149469-5f0up.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Historical range (burgundy) of the Northern Spotted Owl, which also extended north into British Columbia. One hundred fifty years of logging, agriculture and urbanization have reduced the amount of old growth forest (potential Spotted Owl habitat) in this zone by 85-90 percent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/SpottedOwls/spotted_owls_3.php">NASA Earth Observatory</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fire and owls</h2>
<p>Over the years the Forest Service shifted away from treating Spotted Owls as symbols of old-growth forest biodiversity, and instead started to cite them as an excuse for more logging. The idea that forest fires were a threat to Spotted Owls was <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr133/psw_gtr133.pdf">first proposed in 1992</a> by agency biologists and contract researchers. In a status assessment of the California Spotted Owl, these scientists speculated that fires might be as damaging as clearcuts to the owls. </p>
<p>This perspective gained popularity within the Forest Service over the next 10 years and led to <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2000/11/09/00-28509/protecting-people-and-sustaining-resources-in-fire-adapted-ecosystems-a-cohesive-strategy">increased logging on public lands</a> that degraded old-growth habitat for Spotted Owls. </p>
<p>Academic scientists, including some with Forest Service funding, published peer-reviewed studies of Spotted Owls and fire in <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3784267">2002</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/%2010.2193/2008-248">2009</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.11.002">2011</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1525/cond.2012.110147">2012</a>. All four studies showed either no effects from fire or positive benefits from fire for Spotted Owls. Subsequent research on Spotted Owls in fire-affected forests has showed repeatedly that the owls can persist and thrive in burned landscapes. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1BmTq8vGAVo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The U.S. Forest Service says wildfires harm wildlife habitat, but wildfires actually create rare and important habitat.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Many wild species thrive in burned landscapes</h2>
<p>I recently conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that summarized all available scientific research on the effects of wildfires on Spotted Owl ecology. It found that Spotted Owls are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2354">usually not significantly affected by mixed-severity forest fire</a>. Mixed-severity forest fire, which includes large patches with 100 percent tree mortality, is how wildfires in western forests naturally burn. The preponderance of evidence indicated that mixed-severity wildfire has more benefits than costs for Spotted Owls.</p>
<p>In 2017 I submitted an early version of this analysis with the same conclusions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the agency’s peer-review process for its <a href="https://www.fws.gov/sacramento/outreach/2017/10-05/docs/CSO_COR_Final_Oct_2017.pdf">Conservation Objectives Report for the California Spotted Owl</a>. My conclusions were not included in the final report. </p>
<p>Decades of science have shown that forest fires – including large hot fires – are an essential part of western U.S. forest ecosystems and <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/the-ecological-importance-of-mixed-severity-fires/dellasala/978-0-12-802749-3">create highly biodiverse wildlife habitat</a>. Many native animals thrive in the years and decades after large intense fires, including deer, bats, woodpeckers and songbirds as well as Spotted Owls. Additionally, many native species are only found in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_early_seral_forest">snag forest</a> habitat of dead and dying trees created by high-severity wildfire. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/232608/original/file-20180820-30581-1ajzdkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pileated woodpeckers excavate nests within snags, bringing life to charred forests in Oregon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthdata.nasa.gov/user-resources/sensing-our-planet/burned-but-not-forgotten">NASA/S. Russell</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Wildfires threaten homes, but wildlife and water supplies benefit</h2>
<p>Studies have shown that that wildfires are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1112839109">strongly influenced by a warming climate</a>, and that logging to reduce fuels <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.05.021">doesn’t stop the biggest, hottest fires</a>. In my view, federal and state agencies that manage wildfires should devote significant resources towards <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTW7o8lSpyA">making structures ignition-resistant</a> and <a href="http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Defensible-Space/">creating defensible space around homes</a> to protect communities, rather than promoting ecologically damaging logging. </p>
<p>It is also time to reform Forest Service management goals to emphasize <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/115/14/3663">carbon capture</a>, <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/the-ecological-importance-of-mixed-severity-fires/dellasala/978-0-12-802749-3">biodiversity</a>, <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr957.pdf">outdoor recreation</a> and <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/national-forests-grasslands/water-facts">water supply</a> as the most important ecosystem services provided by national forest lands. These services are enhanced by wildfires, not by logging.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek E. Lee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Trump administration wants to step up logging, saying it will benefit wildlife by reducing forest fire risks. But wildfires create habitat for threatened Spotted Owls and many other species.Derek E. Lee, Associate Research Professor of Biology, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/960862018-07-13T10:24:32Z2018-07-13T10:24:32ZScientist at work: Identifying individual gray wolves by their howls<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227222/original/file-20180711-27015-1dr73z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=164%2C226%2C2079%2C1483&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Each wolf calls with its own 'voice.'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Dassow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Love them or hate them, wolves are vital members of natural ecosystems and the health of a wolf population can be an important factor in <a href="https://www.livingwithwolves.org/about-wolves/why-wolves-matter/">maintaining balance</a> among species. Wolf populations are growing in North America – the Great Lakes region in particular now supports over <a href="https://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/aboutwolves/wolfpopus.htm">3,700 individuals</a>. Keeping track of wolf pack movements is important for reducing human-wolf conflicts which can arise when packs move too close to ranches.</p>
<p>The traditional way to track wolves involves setting traps, sedating and then radio-collaring individual animals. While effective, this approach is time intensive and expensive, and entails risks for the animals. </p>
<p>I was fortunate to participate in this entire process firsthand as an undergraduate student. During the summer trapping seasons, I became familiar with each of the wolves in the central forest region of Wisconsin. This experience led to several conversations with the wildlife biologists in the area about whether wolf howls could be used to help identifying non-radio-collared pack members.</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="5" data-image="" data-title="Howl from a wild adult wolf, recorded in central Wisconsin by author Angela Dassow and Carthage College biology students, Cara Hull and Caitlin McCombe." data-size="119400" data-source="" data-source-url="" data-license="Author provided" data-license-url="">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/1199/south-bluff-filtered-howl.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
</audio>
<div class="audio-player-caption">
Howl from a wild adult wolf, recorded in central Wisconsin by author Angela Dassow and Carthage College biology students, Cara Hull and Caitlin McCombe.
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span><span class="download"><span>117 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/1199/south-bluff-filtered-howl.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
</div></p>
<p>This question remained a fun thought experiment for many years. Now <a href="https://www.carthage.edu/live/profiles/1488-angela-dassow">as a biology professor</a> who specializes in <a href="http://ocr.org/learn/bioacoustics/">bioacoustics</a>, I’ve been able to turn that thought experiment into a full research question: Can we use acoustic features to identify individual wolves in the wild? </p>
<h2>Downsides of radio collaring</h2>
<p>Because of the many challenges involved in radio collaring an animal, it would be useful to have a new way to identify and track wild wolves.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227472/original/file-20180712-27024-1pztro3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee fastens a radio collar onto a sedated female gray wolf.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/8488974469">Lori Iverson/USFWS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To successfully set a trap, wildlife managers must first spend days, if not weeks, scouting for signs of wolves. Once they’ve identified a suitable area, they set traps that must be checked every 24 hours. If successful, the animal needs to be sedated before it can be removed from the trap – which can be stressful both for the wolf and the researchers involved.</p>
<p>A sedated wolf cannot regulate its body temperature and overheating can become an issue on hot days. Human handling of a sedated wolf can also be stressful on the pack members that are often nearby, observing the scene. Even after an animal is successfully radio-collared and released, it’s still vulnerable to predators while the sedative wears off.</p>
<p>In spite of these risks, radio-collaring has been the standard way to track populations because each collar’s radio-transmitter frequency acts as a unique identifier of an individual. Researchers can then use aerial surveys where a pilot searches for the collared animal or ground surveys where a field crew drives throughout a pack territory searching for feedback from the radio signal. This method is used to track a wide array of animals, including turtles, birds, bats, whales, fish, snakes and more.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223229/original/file-20180614-32319-1juwm5r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Angela Dassow and Cara Hull survey a road in central Wisconsin for signs of wolves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caitlin McCombe</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listening to learn who’s who</h2>
<p>In 2013, behavioral ecologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CZyS1lMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">Holly Root-Gutteridge</a> and her colleagues successfully demonstrated that they could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2013.817318">identify individual wolves in captivity using acoustic features</a>. Their research provided evidence that it made sense to test whether vocal identification in wild animals is possible.</p>
<p>So with the support of the <a href="https://www.carthage.edu/sure/">Summer Undergraduate Research Experience</a> at <a href="https://www.carthage.edu/">Carthage College</a>, volunteers from the <a href="http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/">Timber Wolf Information Network</a>, and wildlife managers at <a href="https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/wildlifeareas/sandhill/">Sandhill Wildlife Area</a> in Babcock, Wisconsin, my undergraduate students Cara Hull and Caitlin McCombe and I began to record wolves in the wild.</p>
<p>It would be an understatement to say fieldwork can be challenging. On any given day, there can be daunting weather fluctuations. Biting insects, especially mosquitoes and deer flies, are abundant in wolf habitat. We had to constantly check ourselves for ticks. And then of course comes the actual fieldwork. </p>
<p>Wolves naturally avoid coming near people, but the best quality recordings are made up close to where the animals are producing the sounds. To get close with our audio equipment, we had to track the wolves every day to learn where they’d most recently been within their large territories. That’s how we’d establish a starting point for our nightly recording sessions.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223228/original/file-20180614-32304-mgakkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=962&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fresh track from an adult gray wolf.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Dassow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conducting a daily survey of wolf habitat requires driving or walking down every possible path within a wolf’s territory. Signs of activity could include fresh footprints or tracks. This can tell us how many animals were in the area and what direction they were heading.</p>
<p>Large dogs can produce footprints that are similar in size to those of wolves; but the pattern of tracks can be distinguished based on the placement of their feet and the directness of the chosen route. Dogs have a tendency to wander more, while wolves will walk in a more efficient straight line.</p>
<p>In addition to tracks, we conduct a survey of fresh scat. It’s not glamorous, but examining their feces provides valuable information about what the wolves have been eating and how recently they walked along a trail.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223050/original/file-20180613-32323-8i1dwh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Carthage College biology students Cara Hull and Caitlin McCombe conduct a howl survey in central Wisconsin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Dassow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using the information from our daytime survey, we plan a shorter nighttime howling route. Howling is a natural behavior during the evenings, when wolves call to signal that a territory is occupied. At each stopping point on our route, a researcher must get out of the vehicle and howl while another researcher records with a microphone any wolf responses, announcing their presence or defending territory. If we are successful in eliciting a response, we continue in its direction until we get as close as possible.</p>
<p>Use of lights is discouraged since it can deter the wolves from calling again, so we needed to feel our way through the forest at night. Personally, I think it is incredibly exciting to be walking down a trail in the dark and have a wolf walk within feet of where I am. It may sound scary, but we are not in any danger since wolves prefer to avoid contact with humans. During our month-long survey, we were fortunate to experience two close wolf encounters. </p>
<h2>Back in the lab, analyzing the calls</h2>
<p>With the howls recorded, we can return to the lab to analyze our findings using audio software.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223230/original/file-20180614-32316-16wyrn2.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Acoustic properties are measured using Adobe Audition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Dassow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We were able to isolate 21 howls from two adult wolves over two evenings. For each howl, we made six types of frequency measurements and two types of duration measurements. Frequency is how high or low the pitch of the howl sounds and duration is the length of time the howl lasted.</p>
<p>For wild gray wolves, we found that the maximum frequency – that is, the highest sound an animal produced – and the frequency at the end of the howl were the two variables that were most individualistic. For captive wolves, it was different. The lowest frequency an individual produced – what in acoustics is called their fundamental frequency – and the loudness of its calls were the factors that best differentiated among the captive individuals.</p>
<p>The differences in useful identification information between wild and captive howls are likely a reflection of signal quality. The captive recordings are much clearer than what we were able to record in the wild, where we were typically at least half a mile away from the wolves; the signal degrades with distance. As signal quality declines, maximum frequency and end frequency become more useful in individual identification.</p>
<p>Based on our findings and previous research, it is possible to monitor gray wolf populations using non-invasive methods. To do so effectively, researchers would need to record known individuals in a particular area. Once they’ve built up a database of known individuals’ howls, they can conduct nightly surveys. Comparing new recordings to those in the audio library would let them determine which individuals are in an area. </p>
<p>While radio-collaring procedures may still be useful in some cases, vocal identification is a promising alternative for monitoring individuals. Acoustic surveys are still a time-consuming process, but they eliminate the time needed to trap individuals and remove any possibility of accidentally injuring an animal in a trap. Additionally, once researchers gather a database of positively identified individuals, they can use remote monitoring stations to record howls, thus reducing the amount of time spent conducting nightly surveys. Acoustic monitoring could potentially track all the wolves in multiple packs whereas radio-collaring is typically used to track a single member in select packs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96086/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Dassow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tracking wild animals can provide lots of valuable data. New research suggests audio recordings of wild wolves can replace the typical radio collars, which can be expensive and intrusive.Angela Dassow, Assistant Professor of Biology, Carthage CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/911252018-02-01T22:06:24Z2018-02-01T22:06:24ZAs Arctic sea ice shrinks, new research shows how much energy polar bears use to find food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204482/original/file-20180201-123846-1dqit2y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A polar bear breaks through think Arctic ice.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/7EbJpp">USGS</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Polar bears live in a remote and inhospitable environment far from most human settlements. For most biologists, opportunities to observe these animals are fleeting. In fact, scientists’ main resources for understanding basic behaviors of polar bears on sea ice are observations of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/z74-157">polar bear behavior and foraging rates</a> made by Canadian biologist Ian Stirling more than 40 years ago, combined with local traditional knowledge from Arctic indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>With <a href="http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/">ongoing and forecasted declines</a> in Arctic sea ice, there is a greater need to understand how polar bears use sea ice and will respond to anticipated environmental changes. To answer this question, I have been studying polar bears’ physiology and foraging behavior in the Arctic since 2013 with colleagues from the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and Dr. Stephen Atkinson, an independent research wildlife biologist. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8677">recently published study</a>, we provide metabolic data showing, for the first time, how many seals bears need to catch while they forage on sea ice to survive. In doing so, we found they expend more energy than scientists had previously thought. This highlights their reliance on a diet of fat-rich seals in the energetically demanding Arctic.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204480/original/file-20180201-123829-1fyhx24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A still image of Arctic sea ice on Sept. 13, 2017, when the ice reached its annual minimum. The yellow line marks the 30-year average minimum sea ice extent computed over the time period from 1981 through 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2633/end-of-summer-arctic-sea-ice-extent-is-eighth-lowest-on-record/">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How much energy do foraging polar bears need?</h2>
<p>In the Beaufort Sea, where the USGS conducts research, polar bears have shown declines in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1129.1">abundance</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1129.1">survival rates</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1890/08-1036.1">body condition</a>. But it has been hard to directly quantify the mechanisms driving these declines. </p>
<p>Research suggests that bears are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13933">catching fewer seals</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13746">moving greater distances</a> than they did historically, resulting in an energy imbalance that negatively affects their condition and reproductive success. But scientists have struggled to quantify how much energy free-ranging polar bears need and how many seals they need to catch to avoid this negative energy imbalance. </p>
<p>Improvements in animal research technology gave us an opportunity to gain insight into the metabolism, behavior, foraging success and movement patterns of polar bears on sea ice. However, these technologies were not designed to be used on polar bears in minus 30 degrees Celsius conditions, so it took several years to collect the information that we were seeking.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oT4hXw5HqJg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Footage from cameras on collared polar bears, with commentary from wildlife biologist Anthony Pagano.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sub-zero temperatures and wide-ranging bears</h2>
<p>In 2013 we deployed collars equipped with GPS and video cameras on two polar bears to examine the bears’ behaviors and foraging success rates on sea ice. We managed to recover the collars 10 to 13 days later, but to our disappointment the camera lenses were covered with a solid block of ice. Still worse, the camera batteries had failed, probably due to cold temperatures, and no video had been recorded. </p>
<p>A year later we deployed four GPS video camera collars that had been custom-designed for us by wildlife video camera engineer <a href="http://www.ex-eye.us/">Mehdi Bakhtiari</a> to handle extreme Arctic conditions. We attached high-tech triaxial accelerometers, similar to the technology used in Fitbits, to the collars to help us measure the bears’ behavior and activity rate. We also analyzed measurements in blood samples that enabled us to determine their energy expenditure. </p>
<p>This time, the video cameras worked. When we recovered them, we had collected eight to 11 days of footage showing polar bears’ behavior on sea ice from a bear’s point of view, which we could link with the animals’ energy expenditures. But three of the four accelerometers had failed, again due to battery issues resulting from extreme cold conditions.</p>
<p>In 2015, after working with the accelerometer manufacturer, we managed once again to deploy 4 GPS video camera collars with triaxial accelerometers on polar bears. However, one bear had her heart set on moving to Canada and traveled roughly 175 miles (280 kilometers) in nine days after we collared her. To reach her, we flew in a helicopter to a village near the Canadian border, where we then were fogged in for 12 days. During that time the bear crossed into Canada, having walked nearly 270 miles (430 kilometers) since her collar had been applied. We remotely released her collar via satellite, and then waited for it to drift back into U.S. waters before making a dash to locate it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204483/original/file-20180201-123846-1dgeyb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Satellite telemetry shows several tagged polar bears moving long distances to remain on receding sea ice in July 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/polar_bears/previous_tracking.html#jul16">USGS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Feast or famine</h2>
<p>Despite these challenges, we were able to collect a remarkable suite of data on polar bears’ metabolism, behaviors, foraging rates and movement patterns. Our measures of metabolism were considerably higher than previous estimates of polar bear metabolic rates. In other words, we found that polar bears require more energy in their daily activities than scientists had previously believed – about 1.6 times more. </p>
<p>The video collars provided remarkable footage of polar bears’ feast-or-famine lifestyles. A bear could walk for hours before finding a seal breathing hole that interested her, and then spend minutes to hours waiting for a seal to come up for air. If that happened, the bear would stand up on its hind legs and pounce through the ice into the water to try to stun the seal, then grab its prey with its jaws and bite it at the neck. More often than not, the seal would get away and the bear would search for another breathing hole. </p>
<p>Of the 9 bears we studied, 5 lost mass over the eight to 11 days that we monitored them. Four of the bears lost almost 10 percent of their body mass – about 40 pounds (18 kilograms). In contrast, the four bears that actually caught and ate ringed seals gained almost 10 percent of their body mass. These large changes in body mass over such a short period of time were striking demonstrations of how heavily polar bears rely on an energy-dense diet of seal blubber. </p>
<p>Significantly, we also found a strong relationship between the bears’ activity levels and their metabolisms. Polar bears that were more active and moved greater distances used much more energy than less active bears. </p>
<p>Our findings reinforce the physiological challenges that polar bears face as sea ice shrinks and becomes increasingly fragmented. Their seal prey becomes less available, and the bears have to become more active and cover more distance to feed. While there has been much speculation about how loss of sea ice may affect polar bears, our research shows just how dramatically these animals may be affected if they have to range farther to find the food they need.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Pagano is a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, which provides funding for his doctoral studies. The research described in this article was supported by USGS's Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative. Additional support was provided by Polar Bears International; the North Pacific Research Board; Washington State University; World Wildlife Fund (Canada); Oregon Zoo; San Diego Zoo Global; SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund; University of California, Santa Cruz; and the International Association for Bear Research and Management.</span></em></p>A new study shows that polar bears require more food than previously thought. The scientists used collars that tracked bears’ movements and metabolic rates.Anthony Pagano, PhD Candidate, University of California, Santa CruzLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/756842017-05-30T01:41:16Z2017-05-30T01:41:16ZWhy killing coyotes doesn’t make livestock safer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171025/original/file-20170525-23251-z3g2w0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coyote at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/15732901335/in/photolist-pYgerz-eKeG2a-22zuVu-dZoBQK-JCih9-58KUPx-bEZ1T-iAPf7s-domDnS-4zxxN5-cVEb6m-7LJgVG-piLd57-g584HM-fRSHGe-8qxEsz-fJmZqA-fJmZAJ-fraBRq-96MJ5H-b1bup6-9Nzvi-TBC5v4-8SxTyh-8EiLKv-6yKbmX-hfTfkA-pU8bS-883wQn-22v7zM-aEFn2k-5T3V59-7KgDiR-qDF36r-qxUUU-2ETeJ-96QL6w-4pYxPk-adMHTu-bnmrUa-LJByJ-dkujEu-5ZGMNr-eod6p4-eTfKgg-6FWBeQ-gdYM75-8CiBjZ-bkqjPv-4heFMb">USFWS/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Few Americans probably know that their tax dollars paid to <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/sa_reports/sa_pdrs/ct_pdr_home_2016">kill 76,859 coyotes</a> in 2016. The responsible agency was Wildlife Services (WS), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/operational-activities/sa_livestock/ct_predation_management">mission</a> is to “resolve wildlife conflicts to allow people and wildlife to coexist.” This broad mandate includes everything from reducing bird strikes at airports to curbing the spread of rabies. </p>
<p>Controlling predators that attack livestock is one of the agency’s more controversial tasks. WS uses nonlethal techniques, such as livestock guard dogs and <a href="http://wildlife.org/improvements-to-fladry/">fladry</a> – hanging strips of cloth from fences, where they flutter and deter predators. But every year it also kills tens of thousands of predators, including bears, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, hawks, cougars and wolves. </p>
<p>However, there is no clear evidence that lethal control works to reduce human-predator conflict. In fact, it can even make the problem worse. At the same time, research shows that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1205106">predators play key roles</a> in maintaining healthy ecosystems. As a conservation biologist specializing in human-wildlife conflicts, I see growing evidence that it is time to reconsider lethal control.</p>
<h2>Warfare on the range</h2>
<p>Coyotes have been a target ever since European explorers first arrived in their territory centuries ago. Nonetheless, their range has <a href="http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1038/485296a">expanded</a> from the western plains across most of the continent. </p>
<p>The most common reason for killing coyotes is to reduce predation of livestock, such as sheep and calves. In a 2015 <a href="http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahms/sheep/downloads/sheepdeath/SheepDeathLoss2015.pdf">USDA report on sheep losses</a>, ranchers reported how many of their animals died in 2014 and how they died. Twenty-eight percent of adult sheep losses and 36 percent of lamb losses were attributed to predators. Of those animals, ranchers stated that 33,510 adult sheep (more than half of total predation losses) and 84,519 lambs (nearly two-thirds of all predation losses) were killed by coyotes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171023/original/file-20170525-23227-1hljqw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171023/original/file-20170525-23227-1hljqw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171023/original/file-20170525-23227-1hljqw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171023/original/file-20170525-23227-1hljqw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171023/original/file-20170525-23227-1hljqw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171023/original/file-20170525-23227-1hljqw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171023/original/file-20170525-23227-1hljqw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Domestic sheep killed by a coyote in California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/californiadfg/26867667131/in/album-72157667979988421/">CDFW/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.sheepusa.org/NewsMedia_WeeklyNewsletter_2015_October_October92015_PredatorAndNonpredatorDeathLossReportPublished">American Sheep Industry Association</a>, about UD$20.5 million of ranchers’ losses in 2014 (roughly one-fifth of their total losses) were attributed to coyotes. Importantly, however, these numbers were based on self-reported data and were not verified by wildlife professionals. External review would be useful because even experienced ranchers may have trouble determining in some cases whether a sheep was killed by a coyote or a dog (dogs are second only to coyotes in reported predation on livestock), or died from other causes and later was scavenged by coyotes. </p>
<p>To keep coyotes in check, WS employees set neck snares and other traps, shoot coyotes on the ground and from planes and helicopters, arm sheep with <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Ranchers-arm-sheep-with-poison-collars-3129932.php">collars containing liquid poison</a> and distribute <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/wildlife_damage/content/printable_version/fs_m44_device.pdf">M-44 “bombs</a>” that inject sodium cyanide into the mouths of animals that chew on them. </p>
<p>As in warfare, there is collateral damage. M-44s <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/wildlife-watch-wildlife-services-cyanide-idaho-predator-control/">killed more than 1,100 domestic dogs between 2000 and 2012</a>. Scientists have also criticized WS for <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/conl.12045">unintentionally killing numerous animals and birds</a>, including federally protected golden and bald eagles, while failing to do any studies of how its actions affected nontarget species. Early this year the American Society of Mammalogists <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyw185">called for more scientific scrutiny</a> of the policy of killing large predators.</p>
<h2>How effective is lethal control?</h2>
<p>It is understandable for struggling ranchers to blame coyotes for economic losses, since kills leave tangible signs and killing predators seems like a logical solution. However, a widely cited 2006 study <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00336.x">called coyotes scapegoats</a> for factors that were more directly related to the decline of sheep ranching in the United States. </p>
<p>The author, <a href="http://www.projectcoyote.org/about/kim-murray-berger/">Dr. Kim Murray Berger</a>, who was then a research biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, built and tested a series of statistical models to explain the declining number of sheep being bred in the United States. She found that variables including the price of hay, wage rates and the price of lamb explained most of the decline, and that the amount of money spent on predator control had little effect. </p>
<p>Other research indicates that even if predation is one factor in ranchers’ economic losses, lethal control is not the best way to reduce it. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171026/original/file-20170525-23260-wbc50y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Warning in area baited with cyanide traps, Sandoval, New Mexico (click to zoom).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/killbox/4208297206/in/photolist-7pSC9o">Killbox/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One 2016 analysis reviewed studies that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.1312">compared lethal and nonlethal strategies</a> for controlling livestock predation. Lethal methods ranged from civilian hunts to government culls. Nonlethal methods included fladry, guard animals, chemical repellents and livestock protection collars. The review found that nonlethal methods generally reduced livestock predation more effectively, and that predation actually temporarily increased after use of some lethal methods. </p>
<p>Why would predation increase after predators are killed? When pack animals such as coyotes, dingoes and wolves are killed, the social structure of their packs breaks down. Female coyotes become more likely to breed and their pups are more likely to survive, so their numbers may actually increase. Packs generally protect territories, so breaking up a pack allows new animals to come in, raising the population. In addition, some new arrivals may opportunistically prey on livestock, which can increase predation rates. </p>
<p>These findings extend beyond the United States. A three-year study in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605313001610">South Africa</a> found that using nonlethal methods to protect livestock from jackals, caracals and leopards cost ranchers less than lethal methods, both because less predation occurred and because the nonlethal methods cost less. </p>
<p>In Australia dingoes occupy a similar ecological niche to coyotes and are similarly targeted. In a recent <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313479214_Cattle_mortality_on_a_predator-friendly_station_in_central_Australia">case study at a cattle station</a>, researchers found that ceasing all lethal and nonlethal predator control reduced predation of cattle by dingoes as the social structure of the resident dingoes stabilized.</p>
<p>Even research by USDA supports this pattern. In a recent study, researchers from several universities, USDA’s <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/programs/nwrc/!ut/p/z1/04_iUlDg4tKPAFJABpSA0fpReYllmemJJZn5eYk5-hH6kVFm8T7-Js6GTsEGPga-vpYGjqFhbi7OYf7G_o7G-l76UfgVFGQHKgIAt1ZS_Q!!/">National Wildlife Research Center</a> and the nonprofit advocacy group <a href="http://www.defenders.org/">Defenders of Wildlife</a> analyzed <a href="http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_usdanwrc/1888/">wolf predation rates for sheep producers</a> on public grazing lands in Idaho. Predation was 3.5 times higher in zones where lethal control was used than in adjacent areas where nonlethal methods were used.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171028/original/file-20170525-23245-136tbo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171028/original/file-20170525-23245-136tbo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171028/original/file-20170525-23245-136tbo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171028/original/file-20170525-23245-136tbo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171028/original/file-20170525-23245-136tbo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171028/original/file-20170525-23245-136tbo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171028/original/file-20170525-23245-136tbo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A USDA biologist installs fladry to deter predators on a ranch near Jackson, Wyoming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/30721852660/in/album-72157676554932786/">Pamela Manns, USAD/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A high-stakes placebo</h2>
<p>Overuse of subsidized predator control is comparable to primary care doctors <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g5238">overprescribing antibiotics to human patients</a>. Patients often demand antibiotics for common colds, although doctors understand that these infections are caused mainly by viruses, so antibiotics will be ineffective. But receiving a prescription makes patients feel that their concerns are being addressed. Lethal control is a high-stakes placebo for the problems that ail ranchers, and misusing it can increase problems for ranchers and the ecosystems around them. </p>
<p>Human-wildlife conflict is a complex issue. Often, as some colleagues and I showed in our recent book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Human-Wildlife-Conflict-Complexity-Marine-Environment/dp/0199687153/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492110436&sr=1-1&keywords=human-wildlife+conflict%3A+complexity+in+the+marine+environment">“Human-Wildlife Conflict</a>,” the real problem is confrontations between humans about how to deal with wildlife.</p>
<p>This means that we need to choose prevention and mitigation methods carefully. If cultural values and prevailing community attitudes are not taken into account, attempts to change ranching practices could increase hostility toward predators and make it harder for conservation groups to work with ranchers. </p>
<p>Federal employees at Wildlife Services are under tremendous pressure from the agricultural industry. And farmers and ranchers often act based on deeply rooted traditions and cultural attitudes. It rests with wildlife professionals to use current and well-grounded science to address human concerns without harming the environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75684/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan M. Draheim has previously received funding from The Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States. </span></em></p>The US Department of Agriculture kills thousands of predators yearly, mainly for attacking livestock. A conservation biologist explains why this policy is ineffective and ecologically harmful.Megan M. Draheim, Lecturer in Conservation Biology and Human Dimensions of Wildlife, Virginia TechLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/734252017-03-03T02:08:40Z2017-03-03T02:08:40ZMarch Mammal Madness tournament shows the power of ‘performance science’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159169/original/image-20170302-14686-1jd11p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Let the games begin.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://mammalssuck.blogspot.com/2017/02/dont-call-it-is-comeback-weve-been-here.html">Katie Hinde</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early March most science professors are writing midterms and eagerly awaiting spring break to catch up on research. We’re no exceptions, but we are also preparing to emcee a tournament like no other, with thousands of “spectators” in the United States and worldwide: <a href="http://mammalssuck.blogspot.com/2017/02/dont-call-it-is-comeback-weve-been-here.html">March Mammal Madness</a>. </p>
<p>This epic event mimics the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s annual 64-team, single-elimination <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness">Division I basketball tournament</a>. Instead of human athletes, it features simulated animal battles that reflect attributes of each competing species, including temperament, size, weaponry, armor and fight style. </p>
<p>Scientists creatively script the battles to showcase animals’ cool adaptations, conservation concerns and ecological contexts. An occasional nonmammal entrant makes an appearance, such as this year’s <a href="http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/gila-monster">gila monster</a>. Commentaries quote scientific research on ecology, social behavior, evolution and parenting, weaving in pop culture references and jokes galore.</p>
<p>The elaborate battle narratives are “live-tweeted.” Summaries of the outcomes are posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MammalMadness/">Facebook</a> and tweets are archived on <a href="https://storify.com/Mammals_Suck">Storify</a>. For fans who want to dive a little deeper, battle narrators link to peer-reviewed articles that help determine the likely outcome of these clashes. Additional scientists will be on deck this year tweeting about genetics, genomics and phylogeny of battle species. </p>
<p>March Mammal Madness is collective, performance science – the story of animals, told with imagination, creativity and awe for the natural world. We celebrate species and the ecosystems they inhabit, scientists who conduct studies, funders who make the research possible and the irreverence of the human spirit, which makes triumph and defeat opportunities for mad trash talk. This tournament is a love letter to science, about science and from science for all who participate. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159216/original/image-20170302-14686-54ag7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159216/original/image-20170302-14686-54ag7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159216/original/image-20170302-14686-54ag7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159216/original/image-20170302-14686-54ag7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159216/original/image-20170302-14686-54ag7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159216/original/image-20170302-14686-54ag7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159216/original/image-20170302-14686-54ag7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wolf of the Tundra, the 2016 champion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cynthia Rudzis</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Know your species</h2>
<p>March Mammal Madness was launched in 2013 when one of us (Hinde) decided to elevate existing animal bracket games that were rolling around the internet. Instead of a 16-species bracket based on “cuteness,” she created a mammal bracket for her Comparative Lactation Lab and tossed it up on her blog as a lark, thinking “Maybe my mom will play.” </p>
<p>That contest started with a <a href="https://storify.com/Mammals_Suck/mammal-march-madness">battle</a> between a <a href="http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/naked-mole-rat">naked mole rat</a> and a <a href="http://www.rainforestconservation.org/species-data-sheets/mammals/dusky-titi-monkey/">dusky titi monkey</a> for the wild-card 16th seed. Soon scientists were taking to Twitter to root for their favorite species. By the end it was clear that fans expected this to become an annual event. Chris Anderson and Josh Drew became co-organizers in 2014 until today, along with paleoanthropologist <a href="http://profiles.sc-ctsi.org/kristi.lewton">Kristi Lewton</a> from 2014-2016.</p>
<p><a class="twitter-timeline" href="https://twitter.com/ConversationUS/timelines/837314695799386114">March Mammal Madness - Curated tweets by ConversationUS</a></p>
<p>One key takeaway is that battle narratives don’t always boil down to “<a href="http://anth.la.psu.edu/research/research-labs/weiss-lab/documents/CQ46_ToothAndClaw.pdf">nature, red in tooth and claw</a>.” An animal may “win” by peaceably displacing its opponent at a feeding location. Sometimes a powerful carnivore opts not to attack because there is no motivation. </p>
<p>As an example, in 2014 a type of wild dog called a <a href="http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/dhole">dhole</a> faced off against a <a href="http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/binturong">binturong</a>, also known as a bearcat. Although the binturong can be smaller, it won this match because the night before, the dhole had gorged on <a href="http://www.lazoo.org/animals/mammals/babirusa/">babirusa</a>. The gut passage time of wild canids is 24 to 48 hours, so she was still digesting when the battle occurred and had little incentive to fight and risk injury. </p>
<p>As the tournament plays out over several weeks, events in one round carry over into subsequent rounds. Injuries and illnesses take their toll. Sometimes an animal wrenches a knee or snaps a tooth, and just as we would see in nature, these events can send would-be champions plummeting toward defeat. And while many an excellent animal’s adaptive strategy is “He who runs or hides away, lives to graze another day,” such actions sadly constitute a forfeit in March Mammal Madness. </p>
<p>The ecology of a battle locale can also play a pivotal role. In early rounds, the higher-seeded species gets home court advantage. Once the tournament reaches the “Elite Trait,” “Final Roar” and Championship rounds, battle locations become randomized. Imagine an Antarctic-adapted leopard seal fending for itself in the Australian outback, and the ways in which species are adapted to their ecological niches become quickly apparent. </p>
<h2>Plenty of competitors</h2>
<p>Including this year’s entrants, over 250 species have competed in March Mammal Madness, representing Marine Mammals, Mighty Giants, Sexy Beasts, Fossil Taxa, Social Mammals and other groups. The 2015 competition included a Mythical Mammal division, which allowed tournament organizers to discuss human abstract thinking and how even mythical mammals reflect actual animals. For example, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/scientists-seek-to-resurrect-the-auroch-the-extinct-beast-that-inspired-cave-paintings/2016/04/04/e1e3c38a-c5e9-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html?utm_term=.c3bc8ed9865c">aurochs</a> – a type of wild cattle that went extinct in the 17th century – is thought to have inspired the legend of the <a href="http://www.ancient.eu/Minotaur/">Minotaur</a>. </p>
<p>Each year underdogs and dark horses produce upsets, sometimes literally toppling their opponents. These twists give rise to conspiracy theories, and fans often pose detailed counterarguments to explain why battle outcomes, in their view, are unjust. </p>
<p>This year’s contest includes three new divisions: “Desert-Adapted” (including the <a href="http://members.optusnet.com.au/bilbies/About_Bilbies.htm">bilby</a>!), “Adjective Mammals” such as the <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/c/clouded-leopard/">clouded leopard</a> and the <a href="http://www.australianwildlife.org/wildlife/burrowing-bettong.aspx">burrowing bettong</a>, and “Two Animals, One Mammal” such as the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/c550398b-7360-472a-b863-4223d8609812/files/tiger-spotted-quoll.pdf">tiger quoll</a>. Combatants who were serious contenders in 2013-2016 but lost unexpectedly are back this year in the “Coulda Shoulda” division for another run at mammalian glory. </p>
<p>Between tournaments, the organizing team stockpiles articles about cool species and awesome scientists, along with amazing videos. From these materials we develop cohesive divisions and determine species combatants in our version of <a href="http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2016-06-27/march-madness-selection-sunday-2017-dates-schedule">Selection Sunday</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"712450596217835520"}"></div></p>
<h2>Caught you learning</h2>
<p>This year over 200 educators – mainly middle and high school biology teachers – requested advance access to the bracket chart for lesson planning. This response suggests that at least 10,000 students will be playing March Mammal Madness this month. Teachers have told us that March Mammal Madness facilitates teaching about evolution, ecology and adaptation, and that the tournament format engages students who are typically less enthusiastic about science. </p>
<p>March Mammal Madness upends stereotypes of science as a dry, prescriptive discipline and shows that it can be creative and fun. Scientists talk about hypotheses and predictions, but fundamentally these are our imaginings about phenomena that are not yet known to determine what data to collect.</p>
<p>Beyond the classroom, we know from Twitter and personal testimonials that battle outcomes are regular water cooler fodder for museum staffers, scientists, families, artists, veterans and the after-work tavern crowd. Fans routinely cackle about wins and moan over losses. They also discover species they have never heard of and behaviors they couldn’t have imagined. Don’t underestimate this year’s 15th-seeded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izizsAodOCk">grasshopper mouse</a>, a carnivorous rodent that stalks its prey and howls like a wolf.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159187/original/image-20170302-14695-of8bsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159187/original/image-20170302-14695-of8bsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159187/original/image-20170302-14695-of8bsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159187/original/image-20170302-14695-of8bsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159187/original/image-20170302-14695-of8bsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159187/original/image-20170302-14695-of8bsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159187/original/image-20170302-14695-of8bsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charon Henning</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>As one nonscientist friend regularly quips, “You tricked me into learning… AGAIN!”</p>
<p>Producing March Mammal Madness is a team effort. More than 30 scientists, conservationists and enthusiasts have provided graphic design, web resources, photographs and battle narration. Scientific illustrator <a href="http://charonhenning.com/">Charon Henning</a> coordinates numerous tattoo artists to create original art of battle taxa. </p>
<p>This year’s contest starts on Monday, March 6 with a four-way battle for the wild card berth, so there’s still time to fill out those brackets. Find them at Katie Hinde’s blog, <a href="http://mammalssuck.blogspot.com/2017/02/dont-call-it-is-comeback-weve-been-here.html">Mammals Suck … Milk!</a>, and study up on the contestants at special portals created by <a href="http://libguides.asu.edu/MarchMammalMadness/HowToPlay">Arizona State University</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/pages/march_mammal_madness">Oxford University Press</a>. Then prepare to be delighted … and informed!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>March Mammal Madness, a tournament of imaginary contests between pairs of mammals, makes science irreverent and fun. The event has thousands of fans and is used in hundreds of classrooms.Katie Hinde, Associate Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State UniversityChris Anderson, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Dominican UniversityJosh Drew, Lecturer and M.A. Program Advisor, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/363762015-02-02T07:01:19Z2015-02-02T07:01:19ZWhy do groundhogs emerge on February 2 if it’s not to predict the weather?<p>According to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2nd, there will be six more weeks of winter; if not, an early spring is predicted. </p>
<p>Of course groundhogs – also known as woodchucks – don’t emerge at this time just to be furry weather predictors. So what’s the real reason? Research into groundhog biology shows they have other priorities in early February than mingling with the people of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. </p>
<h2>It’s Groundhog Day!</h2>
<p>Groundhog Day appears to have <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/life-sciences/animal-behaviour/marmot-biology-sociality-individual-fitness-and-population-dynamics">European roots</a>. Early February is midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and throughout history this seasonal crossroads has been celebrated. The ancient Greeks and Romans observed a mid-season festival on February 5th in anticipation of spring. In the Celtic tradition, this period was celebrated as the festival of Imbolog to mark the beginning of spring. Early Christians in Europe embraced this tradition and celebrated Candlemas Day on February 2nd, to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary. Customarily on this day, clergy would bless candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of winter in anticipation of spring.</p>
<p>In northern Europe, farmers needed some indication when to start spring planting. They looked for the emergence of hibernators, such as the hedgehog or badger, to signal the coming of spring. Since their emergence occurred in early February, it was believed that if Candlemas Day was sunny, and the hibernator saw its shadow, more wintry weather was ahead. But if it rained or snowed on Candlemas Day, the rest of the winter would be mild.</p>
<p>This tradition was brought to America by the Germans who migrated to eastern Pennsylvania. They found groundhogs in profusion in many parts of the state and decided this mammal was a perfect replacement for the hibernators they’d left behind in Europe. Thus, the tradition continued in America.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70035/original/image-20150126-24541-1ji5h11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Female groundhog emerging from her burrow in late January.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stam Zervanos</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hibernation helps survival</h2>
<p>In my study area in southeastern Pennsylvania, the average date groundhogs emerge from their burrows is February 4. This fits the folklore and the timing of Groundhog Day. However, predicting the weather is not their objective.</p>
<p>The real reason is related to Darwinian fitness – a measure of an organism’s ability to contribute its genes to the next generation. The process defines natural selection and is based on an organism’s ability to survive and to reproduce successfully. High Darwinian fitness suggests an individual will pass on its genes to many healthy offspring.</p>
<p>Hibernation contributes to Darwinian fitness value. It enhances survival by <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/367950">saving energy</a> during times of limited food availability. The ability to hibernate is found in several mammalian groups, including all marmots, many species of ground squirrels, chipmunks, hamsters, badgers, lemurs, bats and even some marsupials and echidnas. Curled up in their burrows, they pass the winter months, when food would be hard to come by. </p>
<h2>Hibernation: alternating torpor and arousal</h2>
<p>Hibernation is characterized by a significant drop in body temperature and metabolic function. This process is commonly called torpor. During torpor, body functions including heart rate, breathing rate, and brain activity are reduced. The overall benefit for the animal is saving metabolic energy at a time when it isn’t eating.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70051/original/image-20150126-24531-1dnzd7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This Maine groundhog had 17 torpor bouts where body temperature went up and down.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stam Zervanos</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, for some still unexplained reason, hibernators arouse periodically during their hibernating season. These arousals come at a great energy cost. Therefore, arousing must be critical to survival in some way or animals wouldn’t waste the energy on it. Some <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00008.2003">possibilities</a> include maintaining cellular functions or disposing of bodily wastes.</p>
<p>In Pennsylvania, these bouts of torpor and arousal continue throughout the hibernation season, starting on average in mid-November and ending by the beginning of March; a total of about 110 days. In <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/ict100">one study,</a> an average of 15 bouts of torpor occurred during this period, with arousals in between. Groundhogs aroused for about 41 hours and then returned to torpor for about 128 hours for males and 153 hours for females. </p>
<p>In a 2010 study, we determined that the hibernation periods for groundhogs <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/648736">increase in length with increasing latitude</a>. The hibernation period matches winter’s duration. The celebration of Groundhog Day would need to change by latitude in order to perfectly match groundhog emergence.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70052/original/image-20150126-24546-171mcal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Male groundhog (on the right) greeting a female groundhog for the first time after they emerge from their separate burrows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stam Zervanos</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It all boils down to sex</h2>
<p>One of the drawbacks of hibernation is the reduced time available for reproduction. Thus, hibernators have developed mating strategies to maximize reproductive success. Groundhog <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1931796">mating strategies</a> involve temporary emergence in early February, mating in early March during during their final arousal, and giving birth in early April. This behavior enhances reproductive success because young are born as early as possible (but not too early) and are able to start feeding in May when lots of food is available. That way they have enough time to gain sufficient weight to survive their first winter hibernation.</p>
<p>But why do groundhogs emerge in February, when mating won’t occur until next month? The answer lies in their <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1383202">social structure</a>. Most of the year, male and female groundhogs are solitary and antagonistic against each other. They aggressively maintain a feeding territory around their burrows and rarely have any contact with each other. February is used to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icb/ict100">reestablish the bonds</a> necessary for mating and ensures that mating can then proceed without delay in early March. </p>
<p>So for the animals themselves, Groundhog Day is more like Valentine’s Day. On February 2nd, groundhogs don’t emerge to predict the weather, but to predict whether their own mating season will be a success!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stam Zervanos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s all about mating success.Stam Zervanos, Emeritus Professor of Biology, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.