Thursday 21 March 2019

Understanding the rich social lives of animals benefits international conservation efforts


Date:  February 26, 2019
Source:  University of Exeter
An international group of researchers working on a wide range of species, from elephants and crows, to whales and chimpanzees, argues that animals' cultural knowledge needs to be taken into consideration when planning international conservation efforts.
A paper published in the journal Science (Tuesday 26 February) makes a compelling case that growing scientific evidence on social learning across a wide range of species, which can lead to unique animal cultures, is important for both conservation practice and conservation policy.
Insights into animal cultures can provide valuable information on 'what' groups of animals to conserve, and on 'how' best to conserve them. For example, understanding how grandmother killer whales pass on valuable information to their offspring, or why some groups of chimpanzees have a culture of cracking nutritious nuts with stone tools while others do not, can be key to evaluating conservation challenges for such species.

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