Camera traps, which automatically take pictures of wildlife when they detect movement and body heat, have become essential research tools for wildlife biologists. The new study is based on data from 102 different camera trapping projects in 21 countries. (Most were based in North America or Europe, but South America, Africa and Asia were also included.) The data allowed the scientists to study the activity patterns of 163 different species of wild mammals — and track how often humans showed up on the same points.
“One of the key advantages of this work is that you get information on both humans and animals,” said Marlee Tucker, an ecologist at Radboud University in the Netherlands, who was not involved in the new research.
During the pandemic lockdown period, human activity decreased in some project locations while increasing in others. At each study site, the researchers compared how often wildlife was detected during a period of high human activity and a period of low human activity, regardless of whether the reduced activity came during the quarantine period.
Carnivores such as wolves and bobcats appeared to be particularly sensitive to humans, showing the greatest decline in activity when human activity increased. “Carnivores, especially larger carnivores, have this long history of, you might say, competition with humans,” Dr Burton said. “The consequences for a sarcophagus bumping into people or getting too close to people often means death.”
On the other hand, the activity of large herbivores such as deer and elk increased when people were out and about. This may be because the animals simply had to move more to avoid crowds of people. But if people help keep carnivores away, it could also make it safer for herbivores to come out and play.
“Herbivores tend to be a little less afraid of humans and may actually use them as a shield than carnivores,” said Dr. Tucker, who praised the study’s authors for “being able to untangle all these different human effects.”
