Food-provisioning negatively affects calf survival and female reproductive success in bottlenose dolphins.

ABSTRACT: Food-provisioning of wildlife can facilitate reliable up-close encounters desirable by tourists and, consequently, tour operators. Food-provisioning can alter the natural behavior of an animal, encouraging adverse behavior (e.g. begging for food handouts), and affect the reproductive success and the viability of a population. Studies linking food-provisioning to reproductive success are limited due to the lack of long-term datasets available, especially for long-lived species such as marine mammals. In Bunbury, Western Australia, a state-licensed food-provisioning program offers fish handouts to a limited number of free-ranging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). Coupled with long-term historical data, this small (<200 individuals), resident dolphin population has been extensively stud

SUBMITTER: Senigaglia V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6586622 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature