Naivety dies with the calf: Learning effects in a heavily harvested ungulate

In animals, habitat selection and movement strategies may affect survival and this may be key agents in selection affection the evolution of a species. To test for learning capabilities of previous experience of hunting in a long-lived, solitary and heavily harvested ungulate, we combined longitudinal GPS-data from 84 female moose (Alces alces) with data on calf and adult survival. We tested the prediction that long-lived moose individuals would adapt their behavior over time due to experience from hunting in the absence of natural predators. We found that female moose may learn from having their calf harvested and alters their behavior the following hunting season in response to previous experience. We also found that females were more likely to be harvested when selecting more for open habitats. As a consequence, surviving females increased their use of cover in the following hunting season after losing a calf to harvest. Use of habitat with cover furthermore increases as female moose...

在动物类群中，生境选择（habitat selection）与移动策略可对个体存活产生影响，而这或是驱动物种演化的关键选择因子。为探究长寿、独居且遭受高强度猎捕的有蹄类动物（ungulate）能否通过过往狩猎经历习得行为模式，我们将84头雌性驼鹿（moose，*Alces alces*）的纵向GPS追踪数据（GPS-data）与其幼崽及成体存活数据进行整合分析。我们验证了下述假说：在无自然天敌（natural predators）的狩猎环境中，长寿的驼鹿个体可随时间推移依托狩猎经历调整自身行为。研究结果显示，雌性驼鹿可因幼崽被猎捕而习得相关经验，并在后续狩猎季调整行为以响应过往经历。此外我们发现，雌性驼鹿若更倾向于选择开阔生境，其被猎捕的概率会显著升高。据此，在因猎捕失去幼崽后，存活的雌性驼鹿会在后续狩猎季增加对隐蔽生境（cover）的利用。此外，雌性驼鹿对隐蔽生境的利用还会随……进一步提升。