Mammals are going to any extent to avoid contact with humans. A study conducted by the University of California suggested that human activity is largely responsible for the mammals on the planet to disappear in the day for the protection of night.
The study also revealed that the global daily activities impact activity patterns of animals and mammals. The results showcased the huge process by which animals amend their behavioural patterns along with humans.
“Catastrophic losses in wildlife populations and habitats as a result of human activity are well documented, but the subtler ways in which we affect animal behaviour are more difficult to detect and quantify,” said the study’s lead author, Kaitlyn Gaynor.
Gaynor applied an analysis in which he used 62 species of mammals across six continents in search of changes in time from day to night and the response of mammals to humans respectively.
He used cameras compatible to operate in remote areas, GPS and radio collars as well as upfront observations. His study included animal behaviour under both high and low disturbance.
The study showed that mammals were more susceptible to human disturbance and this made mammals more nocturnal. This means that an animal that naturally split its activity evenly between the day and night increased its nighttime activity to 68 percent around people.
This finding was the same across carnivore and herbivore species of all body sizes greater than 1 kg. The pattern was also held across different kinds of human disturbance, including activities such as hunting, hiking, mountain biking, and infrastructures such as roads, residential settlement, and agriculture.
(With inputs from ANI)