Flight responses of eastern grey kangaroos to benign or harmful human behaviour

Globally, wilderness is being converted for rural and agricultural land
use. In countryside landscapes, many habitat structures remain intact,
providing suitable habitat for wildlife species that can accurately assess
novel risks and develop tolerance to benign disturbances. Associative
learning that promotes avoidance and also facilitate desensitisation to
benign disturbance is key to persisting in these landscapes. Conversely,
learning to distinguish and avoid negative interactions with humans, like
hunting, is vital. To determine if eastern grey kangaroos are capable of
learning from previous interactions with humans, we tested the flight
responses of wild kangaroos which have previously experienced either low
or high frequencies of harmful and benign encounters with humans. We found
that eastern grey kangaroos rapidly habituated to benign disturbance as
there was no significant difference in assessment distance between groups
that previously experienced low or high frequencies of disturbance. The
threat of harmful disturbances was not as quickly learnt, as groups that
experienced low frequencies of harmful disturbance delayed flight longer
than those experiencing frequent harm. We found that the influence of
environmental and group parameters on a kangaroo’s decision to flee
depended on the intent and frequency of previous interactions with humans.
Our study indicates that kangaroos are learning from previous encounters
with humans, correctly assessing novel risks which may be a contributing
to their persistence in countryside landscapes.