Researchers make startling discovery after reviewing thousands of images from trail cameras: 'Huge ramifications'

Human presence near a Central American forest is disrupting the behavioral patterns of several mammalian species, per a new report. 

What happened?

A study published by the Yale School of Environment found that anthropogenic activity disturbed the schedules of carnivorous animals living in the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. 

Researchers set up 33 camera traps across core and buffer zones within the montane cloud forest and private lands just outside the reserve. They captured thousands of images to track the behavioral patterns of species such as pumas, ocelots, margays, tayras, gray foxes, and coatis from May to November 2023.

According to a summary by Phys.org, the findings showed that the highest levels of human presence came in buffer zones. This surprised the team since those zones allow for small-scale agricultural practices but are otherwise supposed to separate protected core areas from private property.

"One of the most unexpected findings was that human presence was highest in the buffer zone, rather than in lands outside the reserve, suggesting that buffer zones may act as hotspots for human-wildlife interactions rather than transitional areas outside the reserve," lead author Germar González said.

Though the daily cycles of most species were generally unchanged, they adjusted the timing of their schedules. For example, gray foxes, which typically increase their activity at night, became more active during the daytime in regions with greater human presence. Meanwhile, ocelots were more nocturnal than expected in buffer zones.

Why are these behavioral changes important?

The researchers expressed concern that carnivores that significantly alter their patterns to avoid encounters with humans could negatively impact the ecosystem. 

Modifications to hunting schedules could affect predator-prey dynamics and the availability of food sources. Additionally, there could be an increase in competition between species that have similar diets and are trying to avoid human contact.

"Such shifts in carnivore behavior can have huge ramifications for interactions with other carnivore and prey species but also encounter probabilities with domestic species and humans, thus inciting conflict," Nyeema Harris said. 

The scientists also wrote that anthropogenic pressures that continue to go unmanaged could undermine biodiversity conservation efforts by causing "heightened defaunation, habitat fragmentation, and human-wildlife conflicts." 

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What's being done to mitigate human-wildlife interactions?

The study's authors noted that plans to increase protected areas to 30% by the end of the decade under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework are in the works.

However, they also called for future wildlife management strategies to consider land-use changes and sustainable resource practices to help humans and wildlife coexist.

"Our findings highlight the need for adaptive conservation strategies that go beyond zoning and land-use designations and incorporate integrated approaches that involve local communities in conservation planning and enforcement," González said.

"We hope that local conservation agencies can use our study's results to guide future work that examines more specific environmental and human-related variables to better understand what is driving these shifts in carnivore activity across land-use designations in El Triunfo." 

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