A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii)
Repeated exposure to human activity can change the behavioural response of wildlife, having implications for management. Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) breeding close to Antarctic research stations are easily accessible and regularly visited by people. To investigate the responses of Weddel...
Published in: | Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:55907 2023-05-15T13:35:38+02:00 A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) Van Polanen Petel, T Giese, M Hindell, MA 2008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.005 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55907 en eng Elsevier BV http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.005 Van Polanen Petel, T and Giese, M and Hindell, MA, A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii), Applied Aninal Behaviour Science, 112, (1-2) pp. 205-211. ISSN 0168-1591 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55907 Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.005 2019-12-13T21:28:28Z Repeated exposure to human activity can change the behavioural response of wildlife, having implications for management. Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) breeding close to Antarctic research stations are easily accessible and regularly visited by people. To investigate the responses of Weddell seals to repeated pedestrian approaches, we tested the effect of regular visitation over a short-time period (<2 h) on the behaviour of lactating seals. Seals showed evidence of rapid habituation, as assessed by the higher proportion of seals that responded, with 67% looking up during the first approach compared to 18% during the 10th approach (R2 = 0.398, P = 0.050), and by a decrease in the time spent looking at the approacher with repeated exposure (9 2 = 36.078, P < 0.001). The effect of irregular pedestrian activity over a long-time period (approximately 3 weeks) was also examined, with results suggesting that such activity did not result in habituation, rather, adult female seals appeared to become sensitised to people (the majority of seals in both colonies looked up G1 = 0.027, P = 0.870). Weddell seal pups observed during the same experiment also failed to display signs of habituation to irregular pedestrian activity, with 47% of pups looking up in the colony subjected to pedestrian activity compared to 10% in the control colony (G1 = 5.811, P = 0.016). The implications of these results for managing human activity around breeding Weddell seals are discussed. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Weddell Seal Weddell Seals eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Weddell Applied Animal Behaviour Science 112 1-2 205 211 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management Van Polanen Petel, T Giese, M Hindell, MA A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
topic_facet |
Environmental Sciences Environmental Science and Management Wildlife and Habitat Management |
description |
Repeated exposure to human activity can change the behavioural response of wildlife, having implications for management. Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) breeding close to Antarctic research stations are easily accessible and regularly visited by people. To investigate the responses of Weddell seals to repeated pedestrian approaches, we tested the effect of regular visitation over a short-time period (<2 h) on the behaviour of lactating seals. Seals showed evidence of rapid habituation, as assessed by the higher proportion of seals that responded, with 67% looking up during the first approach compared to 18% during the 10th approach (R2 = 0.398, P = 0.050), and by a decrease in the time spent looking at the approacher with repeated exposure (9 2 = 36.078, P < 0.001). The effect of irregular pedestrian activity over a long-time period (approximately 3 weeks) was also examined, with results suggesting that such activity did not result in habituation, rather, adult female seals appeared to become sensitised to people (the majority of seals in both colonies looked up G1 = 0.027, P = 0.870). Weddell seal pups observed during the same experiment also failed to display signs of habituation to irregular pedestrian activity, with 47% of pups looking up in the colony subjected to pedestrian activity compared to 10% in the control colony (G1 = 5.811, P = 0.016). The implications of these results for managing human activity around breeding Weddell seals are discussed. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Van Polanen Petel, T Giese, M Hindell, MA |
author_facet |
Van Polanen Petel, T Giese, M Hindell, MA |
author_sort |
Van Polanen Petel, T |
title |
A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_short |
A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_full |
A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_fullStr |
A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_full_unstemmed |
A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
title_sort |
preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) |
publisher |
Elsevier BV |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.005 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55907 |
geographic |
Antarctic Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Weddell Seal Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.005 Van Polanen Petel, T and Giese, M and Hindell, MA, A preliminary investigation of the effect of repeated pedestrian approaches to Weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii), Applied Aninal Behaviour Science, 112, (1-2) pp. 205-211. ISSN 0168-1591 (2008) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/55907 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.005 |
container_title |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
container_volume |
112 |
container_issue |
1-2 |
container_start_page |
205 |
op_container_end_page |
211 |
_version_ |
1766068109709410304 |