The ecology and evolution of human-wildlife cooperation
Authors
van der Wal, Jessica EM
Uomini, Natalie
Cantor, Mauricio
Afan, Anap I
Attwood, Mairenn C
Amphaeris, Jenny
Balasani, Fatima
Blair, Cameron J
Bronstein, Judith L
Buanachique, Iahaia O
Cuthill, Rion RT
Das, Jewel
Daura-Jorge, Fabio G
Deb, Apurba
Dlamini, Gcina S
Dounias, Edmond
Gedi, Isa I
Gruber, Martin
Hoffmann, Lilian S
Holzlehner, Tobias
Isack, Hussein A
Laltaika, Eliupendo A
Lloyd-Jones, David J
Lund, Jess
Machado, Alexandre MS
Mahadevan, L
Moreno, Ignacio B
Nwaogu, Chima J
Pierotti, Raymond
Rucunua, Seliano A
dos Santos, Wilson F
Serpa, Nathalia
Smith, Brian D
Sridhar, Hari
Tolkova, Irina
Tun, Tint
Valle-Pereira, Joao VS
Wood, Brian M
Wrangham, Richard W
Spottiswoode, Claire N
Publication Date
2022-06-20Journal Title
PEOPLE AND NATURE
ISSN
2575-8314
Publisher
Wiley Open Access
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Cram, D., van der Wal, J. E., Uomini, N., Cantor, M., Afan, A. I., Attwood, M. C., Amphaeris, J., et al. (2022). The ecology and evolution of human-wildlife cooperation. PEOPLE AND NATURE https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10369
Abstract
1. Human-wildlife cooperation is a type of mutualism in which a human and a wild, free-living, animal actively coordinate their behaviour to achieve a common beneficial outcome.
2. While other cooperative human-animal interactions involving captive coercion or artificial selection (including domestication) have received extensive attention, we lack integrated insights into the ecology and evolution of human-wildlife cooperative interactions.
3. Here, we review and synthesise the function, mechanism, development, and evolution of human-wildlife cooperation.
4. Active cases involve people cooperating with greater honeyguide birds and with two dolphin species, while historical cases involve wolves and orcas.
5. In all cases, a food source located by the animal is made available to both species by a tool-using human, coordinated with cues or signals.
6. The mechanisms mediating the animal behaviours involved are unclear, but they may resemble those underlying intraspecific cooperation and reduced neophobia.
7. The skills required appear to develop at least partially by social learning in both humans and the animal partners. As a result, distinct behavioural variants have emerged in each type of human-wildlife cooperative interaction in both species, and human-wildlife cooperation is embedded within local human cultures.
8. We propose multiple potential origins for these unique cooperative interactions, and highlight how shifts to other interaction types threaten their persistence.
9. Finally, we identify key questions for future research. We advocate an approach that integrates ecological, evolutionary, and anthropological perspectives to advance our understanding of human-wildlife cooperation. In doing so, we will gain new insights into the diversity of our ancestral, current, and future interactions with the natural world.
Sponsorship
Natalie Uomini was supported by the Max Planck Society and grant #0271 from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton World Charity Foundation. Mauricio Cantor was supported by the Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. Fábio Daura-Jorge was supported by CAPES (#88887.374128/2019-00), CNPq (#308867/2019-0).
Funder references
European Research Council (725185)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10369
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/337921
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