Ecological Exposure History Shapes Giraffe Vigilance Responses to Anthropogenic Noise: A Multisite Playback Experiment.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic noise is an increasingly pervasive environmental stressor for wildlife, yet its behavioral impacts on large mammals remain poorly understood. Across the genus Giraffa, multiple giraffe species face varying degrees of conservation condern under IUCN criteria due to rapid habitat modification and increasing human disturbance, yet the behavioral consequences of anthropogenic noise exposure have not been experimentally tested. Because vigilance is a key anti-predator response in large herbivores and is highly sensitive to disturbance, we used it as a focal metric to assess giraffe reactions to noise. We conducted multisite playback experiments across three reserves in the Free State Province, South Africa, that differed in human-exposure levels. Free-roaming giraffes were

SUBMITTER: Taylor K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12711595 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature