Elk habituation as a credibility challenge for wildlife professionals
Thompson MJ and Henderson RE. 1998. Elk habituation as a credibility challenge for wildlife professionals. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 26(3):477-483
We offer our perspectives on challenges facing the wildlife profession if habituation behavior becomes prevalent in North American elk (Cervus elaphus). We find it increasingly difficult to ignore habituation in our work with elk and the public in western Montana. The scientific literature documents elk avoidance responses to human activities, but does not provide information to managers that would reconcile apparent contradictions we observe of elk habituation responses in urban fringe areas. Conversations with elk managers and researchers across western North America suggest that elk habituation is a management issue of emerging importance as elk and human populations expand. We examine habituation as an adaptive behavioral strategy for maximizing reproductive fitness and predict that habituated elk populations will be common across the Rocky Mountain west in the 21st century. To reduce habituation risk, managers should consider options that may differ radically from traditional elk management strategies (i.e., to protect elk habitat). We challenge researchers to describe relationships between increasing levels of habituation in elk and environmental factors within management control.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Thompson, Michael; Henderson, Robert
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Elk (Cervus elaphus), Human-Animal Encounters, Management