Human proximity reshapes wildlife space use as strongly as built infrastructure
A new study tracking thousands of animals shows that simply being near people can alter where wildlife lives, sometimes matching the impact of roads and cities.
Scientists from UC Santa Barbara, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and Yale University merged animal GPS tracks with neighborhood-level cellphone data to compare wildlife movements in 2019 and 2020, a period altered by COVID-19 lockdowns. Their findings, published in Science, indicate that human presence influences space use for 67% of mammals and 68% of birds, often interacting with the degree of landscape alteration.
Some species, like wolves, expanded their habitat use, while others, such as white-tailed deer, contracted it as people gathered nearby. The study highlights the need for species-specific conservation strategies that consider both built environments and the simple fact that humans are physically present. Ongoing work will assess whether these behavioral shifts aid survival or signal stress. The research demonstrates the value of pairing animal telemetry with mobile-device data for more precise wildlife management.
Why it matters
Understanding how everyday human activity affects animal behavior can guide more effective conservation policies.
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