Risk-taking neonates do not pay a survival cost in a free-ranging large mammal, the fallow deer (
            <i>Dama dama</i>
            )

Amin, Bawan; Verbeek, Laura; Haigh, Amy; Griffin, Laura L.; Ciuti, Simone

doi:10.1098/rsos.220578

Cited by 7 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…younger) fawns, as also confirmed in the field by a clear positive relationship between the age of the fawns and difficulty capturing them. Body weight is also a good proxy for fawn quality, as shown previously in this population [48].…”

Section: Data Handling and Analysissupporting

confidence: 80%

“…within four weeks after birth). In the same population, it has been shown that lower birthweight individuals die within the first few weeks after birth [48]. In the period of 2018-2021, each year, we tagged between 83 and 102 newborns [48] and collected data on mother-fawn pairs as well as mothers' begging ranks on a subsample of fawns between 38 and 47 (this study).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do human–wildlife interactions predict offspring hiding strategies in peri-urban fallow deer?

Faull,

Conteddu,

Griffin

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Human activities can induce significant behavioural changes in wildlife. Often explored through extractive interactions (e.g. hunting) that can favour certain behavioural traits, the implications of non-extractive ones, such as wildlife feeding, remain understudied. Research shows that people tend to favour bolder individuals within populations despite their dynamics and consequences being unclear. Using fallow deer in a peri-urban environment, we studied whether mothers that show reduced fear of humans and consistently approach them for food adopt weaker anti-predator strategies by selecting less concealed fawning bedsites closer to human hotspots. This would provide the advantage of additional feeding opportunities in comparison with shyer mothers while keeping their fawns close. Our dataset encompassed 281 capture events of 172 fawns from 110 mothers across 4 years. Surprisingly, mothers that regularly accepted food from humans selected more concealed bedsites farther from human hotspots, giving their offspring better protection while also benefitting from additional food during lactation. Our results show behavioural adaptations by a subset of females and, for the first time, link the tendency to approach humans and strategies to protect offspring. Given previous findings that these begging females also deliver heavier fawns at birth, our research further investigates human–wildlife feeding interactions and their behavioural implications.

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Section: Data Handling and Analysissupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do human–wildlife interactions predict offspring hiding strategies in peri-urban fallow deer?

Faull,

Conteddu,

Griffin

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Heavier weights are associated with survival advantages in mammals [ 22 – 25 ], including in our own study site [ 45 ]. For example, young individuals are more likely to survive winter periods of decreased forage if they are heavier [ 46 ] and are less likely to be predated early in life [ 25 , 43 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, wildlife in these areas are often managed through systematic culls in order to maintain populations at regulated numbers [ 57 , 58 ]. If the provision of food to these wild individuals by humans is resulting in advantages for select individuals and the increased survival of their offspring [ 10 , 45 ], then there may potentially be associated population explosions that would require more regular and costly culling actions. If this is the case, then effective management of these feeding activities may prevent the need for increased culling before it even occurs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does artificial feeding impact neonate growth rates in a large free-ranging mammal?

et al. 2023

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Variation and disparity in resource access between individuals in an animal population within human-dominated landscapes require attention as artificial selection processes may be at work. Independent, recreational human–wildlife feeding interactions constitute an increasingly prevalent, yet understudied, food resource for birds and mammals living in our cities. However, only a limited number of risk-taking individuals may access it. Using urban fallow deer as our model species, we hypothesized that if these interactions result in positive effects for the engaging individual, e.g. increased milk quality and yield, then this would result in the increased growth rates of their offspring. Alternatively, if these individuals were prioritizing investing time in engagement with humans, resulting in decreased maternal care, then this would result in slower growth rates in their offspring. We found that the offspring of those females that regularly interacted with humans displayed significantly faster growth rates than their risk-adverse counterparts. This advantage for fearless mothers in terms of boosted neonatal growth rates could be mirrored in birds accessing garden feeders, seagulls or pigeons utilizing urban resources, or seals approaching city harbours. Here, we add a new piece to the complex puzzle of how humans are impacting wildlife living within human-dominated landscapes.

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“…If engagement with feeding interactions is not random, and instead is driven by behavioral type, then they may also only be occurring in a subset of the population. Recent studies have indicated that independent feeding of wildlife can impact the weight and growth rates of offspring (Griffin, Haigh, et al, 2023; Griffin, Haigh, Amin, et al, 2022) (Figure 2) and that the resultingly larger neonates have increased survival rates (Amin et al, 2022). This highlights the potential that artificial selection may be at work and we may involuntarily be manipulating wild populations.…”

Section: Current Knowledge Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Should we feed wildlife? A call for further research into this recreational activity

Griffin

Ciuti

2023

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Independent human-wildlife feeding interactions (i.e., the feeding of wildlife by the public outside of organized ecotourism activities) represent an increasingly common way in which humans and wildlife are engaging with one another. It is important to determine what effects these interactions are having on the wildlife involved in order to ensure that optimum coexistence scenarios are being achieved, however the nature of these interactions makes them notoriously difficult to study. Extrapolation from ecotourism activities has suggested detrimental impacts on the health and fecundity of the populations involved. Moreover, recent findings indicate that bold individuals may actually gain reproductive advantages from this excess food supply, driving artificial selection of risk-taking behaviors within human-dominated landscapes.Humans may, therefore, be unknowingly manipulating wildlife populations, forcing them into unnatural states, and potentially decreasing future viability. Here, we outline key literature pertaining to the potential impacts of these self-led interactions on wildlife and address the need for further research into the associated effects. Due to the associated safety risks to the humans involved in these interactions, and by applying the precautionary principle until further research can be performed, we recommend that management actions be employed to actively reduce their occurrence. We address current management practices in use and make recommendations for further research to adapt and improve them. Ultimately, we make a call for further research addressing two fundamental key areas: (i) to explore the effects of these interactions on the wildlife involved, across different species and habitats experiencing this phenomenon, with emphasis on the potential role of artificial selection, and (ii) to work to improve the management practices currently employed to reduce the occurrence of these interactions, at least until such time as the effects of these interactions on both humans and wildlife have been thoroughly disentangled, with the overall goal of improving coexistence.

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Risk-taking neonates do not pay a survival cost in a free-ranging large mammal, the fallow deer ( Dama dama )

Cited by 7 publications

References 56 publications

Do human–wildlife interactions predict offspring hiding strategies in peri-urban fallow deer?

Do human–wildlife interactions predict offspring hiding strategies in peri-urban fallow deer?

Does artificial feeding impact neonate growth rates in a large free-ranging mammal?

Should we feed wildlife? A call for further research into this recreational activity

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