March 19, 2024: The human-wildlife dynamic, talk to your neighborhood barber/gun counselor, and the science of whalesong. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Tailor-Made Wildlife Solutions | One the largest surveys of wildlife camera images to date collected footage from 5,400 cameras at 102 survey sites in 21 countries from before and during the pandemic. Some surprising (and contradictory) observations emerged. For animals like deer, their photographed numbers decreased during the early pandemic (when most of us were inside and parks were closed) and grew when humans reemerged after stay-at-home orders ended–a surprising result. One explanation is that top predators like mountain lions avoided popular parks when more humans were around, creating more safety for their prey. In more remote parks, like the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve in British Columbia, a network of camera traps found that black-tailed deer abundance declined when people came back.
What this means: Wildlife in each environment seemed to have its own, unique response to human absence and presence, suggesting that solutions have to be tailored for each habitat. For example, some parks might discourage human nighttime activities in parks and suburban open spaces since many animals, including foxes and bobcats, become more nocturnal in modified landscapes with significant human presence.
What the experts say: "In areas where we're sharing space, we need to think about giving [animals] the opportunity to use resources when we're not around," says Cole Burton, a conservation biologist and wildlife ecologist at the University of British Columbia. "We can't just roll back the clock and keep people out of many areas. We have to be practical about how to find that co-existence balance going forward." | | | A pair of male mule deer camera trapped in Cathedral Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. Credit: Cole Burton/UBC WildCo | | | Neighborhood Gun Counselors | In 2022 there were 26,993 deaths by gun suicide in the U.S., and the rate of such suicides reached an all-time high. "We've got this problem in the U.S. where those who are most likely to die by firearm suicide aren't telling anyone what they're thinking, which makes it more difficult to help them," Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, told Scientific American. Anestis is spearheading a new program called Project Safe Guard that trains members of the community to talk to gun owners about how they store their guns and encourage proper safety measures.
How it works: The training involves peer-to-peer counseling where people such as barbers and faith leaders talk with people who may come to them in a moment of crisis. In the future, Anestis hopes to train divorce attorneys and bartenders as well. These counselors use open-ended questions to start conversations about safe gun storage. For example, "How do you store your firearms?" or "Are there any circumstances in which you think it might make sense to not have quick access to your firearms?"
What the experts say: "It's about starting a conversation and seeing the places where a firearm owner might be willing to make changes," says Anestis. The organization is planning large-scale testing of the program in New Jersey this year. | | | • When children scream "It's not fair!" resist the urge to shut down the conversation with a response like "life is not fair," says Kendra Thomas, who studies children's perception of justice as an associate professor of psychology at Hope College. These moments are the perfect opportunity to discuss the differences between true unfairness and discomfort, she says. "Justice is central to morality. Grappling with unfairness is part of moral development. Disengaging or dismissing their early cries for justice fosters cynicism and complacency," she says. | 6 min read | | | In the quiet mornings during the early weeks of the pandemic, my neighborhood in New York City was filled with birdsong. Without the usual cacophony of car engines, children screaming ("that's not fair!"), dogs barking and trucks in reverse, birds owned the airways, so to speak. Some researchers found that the inner cities were as quiet as the suburbs during that time, and even the birds--though we could hear them more than ever--were singing more quietly. It was a reminder that wildlife is part of the most urban environment. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10004 | | | | | | Support our mission, subscribe to Scientific American | | | | | | | | | |
