During periods of predation risk, prey adopt antipredator behaviours to maximise chances of survival, such as increased vigilance, reduced foraging time, shifting to safe habitat, and group formation. To effectively balance resource acquisition and antipredator behavior, prey animals make use of cues within their environment that provide them accurate information about the realistic threat of predation. Using camera traps, we tested vigilance and feeding behavioural responses of two naturally occurring ungulate species roe deer and moose to cues from naturally occurring brown bear and novel Amur tiger predators. We found that roe deer and moose vigilance and feeding behaviours were not affected by either visual or olfactory cues from predators, suggesting that ungulates in this system do not respond differently to novel predator cues. There are a number of potential explanations for this surprising lack of response to any predator cues: a) habituation to uninformative cues is important; b) ungulates might have relied more heavily on other cue types, such as auditory cues, or cues in combination; and, c) constraints on dispersal and/or resources may result in prey being forced to remain in high risk food patches, and continued prioritization of feeding over vigilance. We therefore, recommend that in the future studies regarding cues should involve a combination of cues at a similar location to increase predation risk to the animals to maximise prey response. To our knowledge, this is the first study to lay out the foundation of the ecological influences of captive Amur tiger on prey behaviors in the wild environment.
Authors' ContributionXXD and QC analyzed the data. XXD and SXL wrote the manuscript. GCB, MLL, GXL and DWY measured performance of pigs. XXD, GCB and MLL performed genotyping. DWY collected samples.
The main aim of this research is to review the relationship between predation fear, prey behavior, and community structure or assembly. The relationship between prey and predator is shaped around the risk of predation. A non-consumptive impact of predators on their prey seems to be more extensive and diverse, with significant consequences for community structure and function of the ecosystem. Predators have a strong direct and indirect effect on ecological communities by intimidating their prey. Ecological context including habitat structure and identity of species have influenced the strength and nature of nonconsumptive effects and hence it may alter the outcome of intimidation of predator. Further, this study uses secondary data collection methods. The relationship between predation fear and aging behavior of prey, reproduction behavior of prey and territorial defense strategies of prey are detailed in the prior literature review. Since a wide range of wildlife is under existential crisis especially the predators, there is a need to understand the predator-prey relation. In the future, this work can be detailed by collecting the primary data source through a quantitative approach among various investigators.
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