Abstract
Simple SummaryUrban landscapes are increasing across the globe, causing wildlife to face new challenges and driving behavioural change. Wildlife in these urban landscapes must adapt their behaviour to survive. We investigated vigilance behaviour in urban and non-urban populations of eastern grey kangaroos. We found that the difference in land use alone did not affect their vigilance behaviour, but kangaroos spent more time vigilant in areas of high human population density. Season and sex also influenced the amount of time spent vigilant: more time was spent vigilant in winter and in female kangaroos. This is the first study to compare the vigilance behaviour between urban and non-urban populations of a large mammal across regions, giving the first insight into how kangaroos adapt their behaviour in urban environments.Rapid increases in urban land use extent across the globe are creating challenges for many wildlife species. Urban landscapes present a novel environment for many species, yet our understanding of wildlife behavioural adaptations to urban environments is still poor. This study compared the vigilance behaviour of a large mammal in response to urbanisation at a landscape level. Here, we investigate urban (n = 12) and non-urban (n = 12) populations of kangaroos in two regions of Australia, and the relationship between kangaroo vigilance and urbanisation. We used a linear modelling approach to determine whether anti-predator vigilance and the number of vigilant acts performed were influenced by land use type (i.e., urban or non-urban), human population densities, kangaroo demographics, and environmental factors. Kangaroo behaviour differed between the two study regions; kangaroo vigilance was higher in urban than non-urban sites in the southern region, which also had the highest human population densities, however no effect of land use was found in the northern region. Season and sex influenced the vigilance levels across both regions, with higher levels seen in winter and female kangaroos. This study is the first to compare urban and non-urban vigilance of large mammals at a landscape level and provide novel insights into behavioural adaptations of large mammals to urban environments.
Highlights
Urbanization is increasing at a rapid rate across the globe; areas that were once undisturbed by humans are becoming human-dominated, which increases the chance of human-wildlife interactions [1]
The final model did include an interaction between season and region (Est = 4.48 ± 1.17, t = 3.83, p < 0.001; Table S2), which suggested that time spent vigilant was higher in winter than summer and higher in ACT when compared to south-east Queensland (SEQ)
Our results suggest that kangaroos that were found in areas of high human population density (HPD) are spending more time vigilant when compared to those found in areas of lower HPD and/or ‘non-urban’ environments
Summary
Urbanization is increasing at a rapid rate across the globe; areas that were once undisturbed by humans are becoming human-dominated, which increases the chance of human-wildlife interactions [1] Wildlife remaining in these modified landscapes are forced to adapt their lifestyles due to these increasing human interactions. Animals that are found in urban habitats may be subjected to alternate types of predation, with a higher frequency of domesticated animals that prey on them, such as cats and dogs [6], and potential persecution by humans. This shift in predator type between urban and rural landscapes may change the anti-predator response of urban animals
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