Recolonizing Carnivores and Naïve Prey: Conservation Lessons from Pleistocene Extinctions

The current extinction of many of Earth's large terrestrial carnivores has left some extant prey species lacking knowledge about contemporary predators, a situation roughly parallel to that 10,000 to 50,000 years ago, when naïve animals first encountered colonizing human hunters. Along present-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2001-02, Vol.291 (5506), p.1036-1039
Main Authors: Berger, Joel, Swenson, Jon E., Persson, Inga-Lill
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alaska
Alces alces
Animals
Arousal
Attrition (Research Studies)
Bears
Behavior, Animal
Biology
Canis lupus
Carnivora
Carnivores
Conservation of Natural Resources
Cues
Deer
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Ecosystem
Europe, Scandinavia
Exact sciences and technology
Extinction
Extinction (Biology)
Female
Geology, Stratigraphic
Glacial epoch
Grizzly bears
Ice ages
Male
Marine and continental quaternary
National parks
Odorants
Odors
Paleontology
Pleistocene
Predation
Predators
Predatory Behavior
Prehistoric era
Ravens
Scandinavian and Nordic Countries
Species extinction
Stratigraphy
Surficial geology
Ursidae
Ursus arctos
USA
Vertebrate paleontology
Vocalization, Animal
Wolves
Wyoming
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Summary:The current extinction of many of Earth's large terrestrial carnivores has left some extant prey species lacking knowledge about contemporary predators, a situation roughly parallel to that 10,000 to 50,000 years ago, when naïve animals first encountered colonizing human hunters. Along present-day carnivore recolonization fronts, brown (also called grizzly) bears killed predator-naïve adult moose at disproportionately high rates in Scandinavia, and moose mothers who lost juveniles to recolonizing wolves in North America's Yellowstone region developed hypersensitivity to wolf howls. Although prey that had been unfamiliar with dangerous predators for as few as 50 to 130 years were highly vulnerable to initial encounters, behavioral adjustments to reduce predation transpired within a single generation. The fact that at least one prey species quickly learns to be wary of restored carnivores should negate fears about localized prey extinction.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1056466