南非的一项研究发现，人类的声音比狮子的声音还要让野生动物害怕。在克鲁格国家公园开展的试验发现，约有95%的野生动物听到人类声音后非常惊恐并迅速跑掉。


Photo/PexelsHuman voices cause considerably more fear in wild mammals than the sound of lions, a study in South Africa has found.

南非的一项研究发现，相比狮子的声音，人类的声音要让野生动物害怕得多。

Scientists played recordings of people talking normally through speakers hidden at water holes in the Kruger National Park.

科学家在克鲁格国家公园通过隐藏在水坑里的扬声器播放了人们正常的讲话声音。

About 95% of animals were extremely frightened and quickly ran away.

约有95%的动物听到人类声音后非常惊恐并迅速跑掉。

In contrast, recordings of snarling and growling lions elicited significantly less alarm.

相比之下，狮子咆哮的录音却没有让他们那么害怕。

The human speech they chose to play included local languages commonly spoken in the country.

他们选择播放的人类语音包括在南非普遍使用的当地语言。

During the experiment they noted that some elephants, in response to the big cat calls, even attempted to confront the source of the sound.

科学家在试验中注意到，有些大象在听到狮子叫声时，甚至向着声源走去。

The study's findings suggest that the animals, which included antelopes, elephants, giraffes, leopards and warthogs, have learnt that contact with humans is extremely dangerous, due to hunting, gun use and the use of dogs to catch them.

研究结果显示，包括羚羊、大象、长颈鹿、豹子和疣猪在内的动物都知道与人类接触极其危险，因为人类会打猎、使用枪支以及用猎犬来抓捕它们。

The fear exhibited goes beyond the Kruger National Park, as a global pattern shows wildlife tend to fear humans more than any other predator, according to the study.

研究发现，动物对人类的恐惧不只局限于克鲁格国家公园，这种全球趋势表明野生动物害怕人类甚于任何其他捕食者。

The authors note that this poses a challenge for areas which rely on wildlife tourism, because the human visitors they want to attract are inadvertently scaring off the animals they have come to see.

研究作者指出，这将对依赖野生动物旅游的地区构成挑战，因为这些地区希望吸引的人类游客在无意之中吓走了他们要观看的动物。

The findings also open up the potential to protect vulnerable species in these ecosystems. Human sounds, when used appropriately, could help protect against illegal poaching.

研究结果还对保护这些生态系统中的濒危物种提出了潜在的新方法。他们认为，适当运用人类声音有助于防止非法偷猎。

"We are collaborating in experiments testing whether we can deter rhinos from poaching hotspots," one of the authors said.

该研究的其中一名作者表示：“我们正在协同开展试验，看我们能否把犀牛从偷猎热点区域吓走。”

英文来源：BBC