British biologists have studied the effect of noise caused by human activities on the behavior of wild animals. For example, the mongoose emerged that unnatural to nature sounds, in a sense, deprive them of the sense of smell.
Has long been established that the sounds of the city, airports, traffic have a detrimental effect on animal world: living close to man of the wild fauna under stress, bad sleep, have heart problems and worse perceived new information. This conclusion applies not only to mammals the effects of sounds produced by people, also have birds, fish, insects and amphibians.
The new study aimed to find the relationship between noise and odor perception, conducted by scientists from the University of Bristol the results published in the journal Current Biology. The objects of study become the dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula) — animals for whom smell plays a particularly important role. Groups living on the territory of 60 hectares, mongoose labeled it with secretions, without allowing their land “competitors”. In addition, they successfully avoid meeting with the predator, tracking their movements by the smell of feces.
In the framework of his scientific work, biologists have conducted experiments in the savannas of South Africa. There was laid out samples of the secretions of predators and simultaneously broadcast the sounds characteristic of the motorway. Watching the mongoose, the researchers found that in such conditions, the rate of detection of faeces of predators is considerably reduced. And even after the animals had received information of the near presence of the enemy, they react to it is not correct: their vigilance had not increased.
The importance of the noise factor, previously deeply investigated. Scientists emphasize that now, talking about human fault is to reduce the number of animals one can name and change patterns of behavior demonstrated by the mongoose, shows how easily a species can become vulnerable and eventually disappear.
