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Conflict with humans is a major contributor of the decline in lion populations in Africa. [1] Habitat loss and fragmentation due to conversion of land for agriculture has forced lions to live in closer proximity to human settlements. [2] As a result, conflict is often characterized by lions preying upon livestock, known as livestock depredation ...
Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when studying animal behaviors: What are the proximate causes , ontogeny , survival value , and phylogeny ...
For example, in South Africa the mercury levels are severe due to coal combustion and gold mining. Mercury is absorbed from the air into the soil and water. [19] The soil allows the crops to absorb the mercury, which humans ingest. Animals eat the grass which has absorbed the mercury and again humans may ingest these animals.
Environmental issues in Liberia include the deforestation of tropical rainforest, the hunting of endangered species for bushmeat, the pollution of rivers and coastal waters from industrial run-off and raw sewage, and the burning and dumping of household waste.
Many of these wildlife species are threatened animals such as large lowland gorillas and chimpanzees. [2] Five of the country's national parks are listed as World Heritage Sites: the Garumba, Kahuzi-Biega, Salonga and Virunga National Parks, and Okapi Wildlife Reserve. All five sites are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage In Danger.
These sites occurred as a result of humans exploiting an animal's herding behavior and predator-flight instincts. [citation needed] The extinction of the passenger pigeon is another example. [citation needed] In 2023 alone, over 1.8 million distinct human-wildlife conflicts occurred as animal involved auto accidents on roadways, seen as roadkill.
Since then, conservation behavior has slowly gained prominence with a surge of publications in the field since the mid-1990s and the Animal Behavior Society even forming a committee in support of conservation behavior. [6] [7] [8] [2] A number of studies have shown that animal behavior can be an important consideration during conservation projects.
When behavioral variation reflects differential phenotypic plasticity, it is due more to ecological pressures than cultural ones. In other words, when an animal changes its behavior over its lifespan, this is most often a result of changes in its environment. Furthermore, animal behavior is also influenced by evolved predispositions, or genetics.