Strategies for integrating animal social learning and culture into conservation translocation practice

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, Год журнала: 2025, Номер 380(1925)

Опубликована: Май 1, 2025

Conservation translocations are increasingly used in species' recovery. Their success often depends upon maintaining or restoring survival-relevant behaviour, which is socially learned many animals. A lack of species- population-appropriate learning can lead to the loss adaptive increasing likelihood negative human interactions and compromising animals' ability migrate, exploit resources, avoid predators, integrate into wild populations, reproduce survive. When applied well, behavioural tools address deficiencies behaviours boost survival. However, their use has been uneven between species translocation programmes, behaviour commonly contributes failure. Critically, current international guidance (e.g. International Union for Nature's guidelines) does not directly discuss social its facilitation. We argue that linking knowledge about appropriate strategies will enhance direct future research. offer a framework incorporating animal planning, implementation, monitoring evaluation across captive settings. Our recommendations consider barriers practitioners face contending with logistics, time constraints intervention cost. emphasize stronger links researchers, wildlife agencies would increase support research, improve perceived relevance feasibility facilitating learning.This article part theme issue 'Animal culture: conservation changing world'.

Язык: Английский

The flexibility of social learning and its conservation implications in mammals and beyond

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, Год журнала: 2025, Номер 380(1925)

Опубликована: Май 1, 2025

Conservation strategies seek to ensure that populations persist and are resilient environmental change. As learning from others can shape the development of skills help animals survive, reproduce respond changing conditions, understanding social be crucial conservation importance. Research on mammals, with their great diversity niches systems, provides vital evidence helps communicate, secure mates, avoid predators, forage effectively navigate through ecological environments. However, these environments being rapidly altered in Anthropocene, influencing individuals' reliance learning, value learned information, its spread groups stability socially traditions. Here, we review synthesize this growing body literature highlight how ways which use deploy it flexibly throughout lives may enhance programmes. We consider both potential negative consequences scope for social-learning-driven interventions generate adaptive responses challenges A greater appreciation integration flexibility will ultimately promote effective mammals other taxa our fast-changing world.This article is part theme issue 'Animal culture: a world'.

Язык: Английский

Animal culture: conservation in a changing world

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, Год журнала: 2025, Номер 380(1925)

Опубликована: Май 1, 2025

Social learning and animal culture can influence conservation outcomes in significant ways. Culture is a dynamic phenomenon; socially learned behaviours be transmitted within and/or between generations among populations, which facilitate resilience, or other circumstances generate vulnerability. driver of evolutionary diversification, population structure demography, shaping sociality influencing underlying biological processes such as reproduction survival, affecting fitness. This theme issue synthesizes the current state knowledge on cultural variation major vertebrate taxa, offering practical insights how social interface directly with interventions. It ranges over topics that include translocations, human-wildlife interactions adaptation to anthropogenic change. complex; integrating into challenging. No one-size-fits-all policy recommended. Instead, we aim balance understanding diversity implementations this nascent field, exploring supporting developing pathways towards efficiencies. Key themes emerge conserving capacity, benefits data sharing, along intrinsic value cultures role Indigenous Peoples local communities.This article part 'Animal culture: changing world'.

Язык: Английский