Many Animals Staying Awake at Night to Avoid People

 

Lions, tigers and other mammals are staying awake at night to avoid human beings, a new study finds.

Scientists have long known that human activity can lead to changes in nature. Many mammals may move around less or travel to distant places to avoid contact with people. By being awake at night, mammals can also be on guard against possible attackers and spend less time looking for food.

The latest research found even activities like hiking and camping can frighten animals and cause them to become more active at night.

Kaitlyn Gaynor of the University of California, Berkeley led the study. She said, "It suggests that animals might be playing it safe around people. We may think that we leave no trace¹ when we're just hiking in the woods, but our mere² presence³ can have lasting⁴ consequences."

She and her team of researchers examined 76 other studies involving 62 species⁵ on six continents. Among the animals studied were lions in Tanzania, tigers in Nepal, and otters⁶ in Brazil.

Researchers compared how much time those animals were active at night in areas of human activity, such as hunting, hiking and farming. The team found that, on average, human presence caused an increase of about 20 percent in night time activity, even in creatures that usually sleep at night.

Results were published in the journal⁷ Science.

The findings⁸ are unusual because no one else has gathered all this information and looked at it in such detail, noted⁹ Ana Benitez Lopez of Radboud University in the Netherlands. She examined the research, but was not part of the study.

Ecologist Marlee Tucker was surprised that any kind of human activity is enough for mammals to see people as a threat.

"It's a little bit scary," she said.

Tucker works¹⁰ at the Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany. She was not part of the study.

Kaitlyn Gaynor said the change in hours will affect animals that have already have trouble in the darkness. But she said that the changes could also help other animals reduce conflict with people.

"Humans can do their thing during the day; wildlife can do their thing at night," she said.

Gaynor added, that way, people would be sharing the planet¹¹ with many other species.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

mammal– n. an animal that feeds milk to its young and that usually has hair or fur covering most of its skin

vigilant– adj.carefully noticing problems or signs of danger

hike– v. to walk a long distance, especially for pleasure or exercise

trace – n.a very small amount of something

consequence– n.something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions

species– n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

scary– adj. causing fear

1 trace   

n.痕迹，踪迹，微量；vt.追踪，找出根源，描绘；vi.追踪

参考例句：

• There isn't a trace of a smile on her face.她脸上没有一丝笑容。
• We have lost all trace of him.我们找不到他的踪迹。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 presence   

n.出席；到场；存在

参考例句：

• Her presence lent an air of respectability to the occasion.她的到场使那种场合增添了崇高的气氛。
• His presence is indicative of his willingness to help.他的出席表示他愿意帮忙。

4 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

5 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

6 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

7 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

8 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

11 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。