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posted by n1 on Wednesday November 18 2015, @07:13AM   Printer-friendly
from the submitter-took-my-job dept.

When most wild animals first encounter humans, they respond as they would to any predator—by running, swimming or flying away.

Over time, some species become more tolerant of humans' presence, but the extent to which they do is largely driven by the type of environment in which the animals live and by the animal's body size, according to a comprehensive new analysis.

Researchers led by Daniel Blumstein, a professor and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology in the UCLA College, analyzed 75 studies conducted over the past half-century of 212 animal species—mostly birds, but also mammals and lizards. The scientists estimated species' tolerance to human disturbance by comparing how far away from humans an animal would have to be before it fled—a statistic called "flight initiation distance."

The paper was published today in Nature Communications.

Among the findings:

  • Birds in more heavily populated urban areas are much more tolerant of humans than birds in rural areas.
  • Larger birds are more tolerant of humans than smaller birds.

Why Are Some Wild Animals More Tolerant to Human Interaction Than Others? No.


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 18 2015, @07:45AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 18 2015, @07:45AM (#264746)

    Morbo has zero tolerance for puny humans. Morbo will destroy you!

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 18 2015, @10:28AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 18 2015, @10:28AM (#264790)

    Bah. There is no Morbo. Only Zuul.

  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday November 18 2015, @01:47PM

    by looorg (578) on Wednesday November 18 2015, @01:47PM (#264838)

    But the only reason Morbo doesn't eat cute animals such as kittens is that by his own admission they give him gas. Digesting Smelly hippies have other effects on Morbo.