Snarling Leopard Audio (AUDIO)
Caption
Princeton ecologist Justine Atkins simulated the return of predators to Gorongosa National Park by playing recordings of leopard calls and distributing simulated scat and urine. She used a commercially available fake lion poop product called Silent Roar and 2-phenylethylamine, which is the component of carnivore urine that has been found to elicit an innate fear response in prey species. The researchers used GPS collars to track the movements of bushbuck in the 48 hours before and after these predator simulation experiments, and they found that the herbivores in woody areas showed no changes, but bushbuck in the floodplain retreated into woody areas.
Credit
Audio courtesy of Macauley Library at Cornell
Usage Restrictions
Editorial use only
License
Licensed content