Land-Use Designations Can Cause Variations in Carnivore Behavior

Even within the sanctuary of protected conservation areas, the rhythms of life are changing for carnivores in Mexico's montane cloud forests. A new Yale School of Environment study conducted by  Germar González ‘24 MESc, doctoral student Siria Gámez, and Nyeema Harris, the Knobloch Family Associate Professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation, found that heightened human activity may be altering the behavior of species like ocelots, pumas, and gray foxes, forcing them to adapt their daily routines to coexist with humans. 

“Our findings highlight the need for adaptive conservation strategies that go beyond zoning and land-use designations, and incorporate integrated approaches that involve local communities in conservation planning and enforcement,” said González, now a conservation program specialist at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, found that buffer zones, which are intended to act as a transition between protected core areas and human-dominated landscapes, may actually be hotspots for human-carnivore interaction. These zones, where some human activities like small-scale agriculture are permitted, saw the highest levels of human presence and, consequently, significant shifts in carnivore behavior.

“One of the most unexpected findings was that human presence was highest in the buffer zone, rather than in lands outside the reserve, suggesting that buffer zones may act as hotspots for human-wildlife interactions rather than transitional areas outside the reserve,” González said.

The research, conducted in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico, examined how different land-use designations — core zones, buffer zones, and private lands — affected the activity patterns of a diverse carnivore community. Camera traps captured thousands of images, revealing how these animals adjusted their schedules in response to varying levels of human presence and land use.

“Studies like ours that survey wildlife across land management type helps to inform protected area management, assess effectiveness, and re-evaluate expansion goals. Because carnivores are not spatially constrained to only residing within the borders of protected areas, collaborative actions with private landowners will remain essential to promoting species conservation and human-wildlife coexistence,” Harris said.

​The study focused on seven carnivore species: jaguars, pumas, ocelots, margays, tayras, gray foxes, and coatis. While most species maintained their general light-dark cycle, for instance nocturnal animals remained primarily nocturnal, the timing of their activity shifted. Gray foxes, typically more active at night, showed increased daytime activity in areas with higher human presence. Ocelots, known for their elusive nature, became more nocturnal in buffer zones, likely to avoid human encounters.

“We found that certain species such as margay and gray foxes significantly shifted their activity patterns across zones,” Harris said. “Such shifts in carnivore behavior can have huge ramifications for interactions with other carnivore and prey species but also encounter probabilities with domestic species and humans, thus inciting conflict.”

These changes in activity patterns can have cascading effects on the ecosystem. Shifts in hunting schedules can disrupt predator-prey relationships and  affect the availability of food sources. Increased competition between species with overlapping diets can also arise as they adjust their activity to avoid humans.

“Our study challenges how we as researchers use land-use designations as proxies for human activity or potential impact to wildlife. Often there is an assumption about the human impact gradient moving from outside a protected area into the core zones, but our results demonstrate how those designations don't necessarily capture the reality on the ground,” Gámez said. 

The findings underscore the challenges of managing protected areas in the face of increasing human pressures. As global conservation efforts aim to expand protected area coverage, it's crucial to consider the complex dynamics of human-wildlife coexistence, the authors note. Simply designating an area as “protected” isn't enough. Effective management strategies must take into account the needs of both wildlife and local communities.

“We hope that local conservation agencies can use our study’s results to guide future work that examines more specific environmental and human-related variables to better understand what is driving these shifts in carnivore activity across land-use designations in El Triunfo,” González said.

González, who is Mexican-American, said the opportunity to conduct research in Mexico was particularly meaningful for him. He noted he was able to build on the existing groundwork of Gámez, who as a doctoral student with YSE’s Applied Wildlife Ecology Lab (AWE) had already established a study system in the biosphere reserve. The AWE lab implements inclusive socio-ecological research through student training and strategic local partnerships to promote wildlife persistence and human-wildlife coexistence in protected areas and beyond on a global scale. The work received funding from Fulbright, the Ford Foundation, the Tropical Resource Institute, and the Council of Latin American and Iberian Studies at Yale.    

“This incredible research opportunity in Mexico would not have been possible without the invaluable guidance and financial support of Dr. Harris, the foundational work laid by Siria, and the collaborative spirit of my AWE Lab colleagues,” González said.