Center, Internet, Wildlife Damage Management
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Wildlife Habituation: Advances in Understanding and Management Application
Date of this Version
Spring 2011
Document Type
Article
Citation
Human–Wildlife Interactions (Spring 2011) 5(1): article 3
doi: 10.26077/bk74-cn83
Abstract
Deliberate habituation of wildlife to humans, while enormously useful and at times indispensable, is a double-edged sword. It may lead to a rich harvest in scientific knowledge, but it is also a source of mortal danger to wildlife practitioners, to the animals, and to hapless third parties. Inadvertent habituation, in which wildlife accepts or seeks out the presence of humans in order to benefit from food, shelter, and security, entails risks and generates management and public relations problems for public agencies. Negative habituation, in which systematic human activities lead to avoidance of humans by wildlife, also has costs, such as the loss of wildlife populations via alienation; its benefits include the systematic avoidance of humans by predators.
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Brazenness on the part of the observer is an excellent deterrent to such inquisitions or attacks. Fearfulness or timidity, on the other hand, can trigger attacks! Every animal we observe at close range also observes us, and wolves and bears may even follow one’s tracks and sit close to one’s cabin, apparently listening to what goes on inside. Unfortunately, it often is true that “familiarity breeds contempt,” and it can become an inducement for an animal to attack a human observer. In short, the observed animal after habituation and taming, can, through continuous observation of the observer, be induced into an attack.