STUDY: Animals in national parks are affected by even just a few people
The researchers were surprised by the apparent low tolerance wildlife had for the presence of people nearby. Even just a few humans impacts the activity of wildlife that live there.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: National park traffic has grown steadily over the past decade, and popular parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone can easily see over a million visitors a year. In these heavily used areas, one might expect animals to change their behavior to avoid humans. But a new University of Washington-led study has found that even in remote, rarely visited national parks, the presence of even just a few humans impacts the activity of wildlife that live there.
Nearly any level of human activity in a protected area like a national park can alter the behavior of animals there, the study found. The research was published Oct. 13 in the journal People and Nature… “There’s been increasing recognition of how much just the presence of humans in these places, and our recreating there, can impact wildlife,” said senior author Laura Prugh, associate professor in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences…
The research team based its study in Glacier Bay National Park, a coastal area in southeast Alaska that is accessible only by boat or plane. Most visitors arrive on cruise ships, but the boats don’t dock on shore, and the park has very little human foot traffic. Because so few people visit each year—only about 40,000 but increasing — the park was an ideal place to locate this study, Prugh explained…
Though all four species showed some change in activity due to humans, wolves were most likely to disappear from cameras when people were around. Brown bears were the least impacted by human presence. Moose, however, were more active during the times of day and locations where people were seen. The researchers hypothesize that moose might be using humans as a protective shield from predators, opting to align their active hours with humans to avoid becoming prey…
The researchers were surprised by the apparent low tolerance wildlife had for the presence of people nearby. “It was eye-opening to see the number of wildlife sightings we are ‘missing’ just by recreating in backcountry areas of Glacier Bay,” said lead author Mira Sytsma, who completed this work as a UW graduate student. “I was surprised that for all four species, wildlife detections were always highest when there wasn’t any human activity. So many people visit national parks for the chance to view wildlife, and that desire alone may reduce the chance of it happening”. SOURCE…
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