Meet penguin-bot. Remote-controlled rovers disguised as penguins could reduce stress to wild animals during behavioural researchStudying wild animals is crucial if we are to understand why they behave the way they finish. But what if the apparently passive act of observation changes the way they behave? For decades,behavioural ecologists enjoy been very mindful of this problem. A paper, just out in Nature Methods, and suggests a cunning new way to collect data from wild animals without causing them undue stress.
There are many ways to study the behaviour of wild animals. You can recede out and gain their trust,hoping they procure so comfortable with your presence that they carry on as if you weren’t there at all. Or you might want to fit your study population with some kind of gizmo that can collect (and possibly even transmit) data in your absence. But even devices like these are likely to alter behaviour: increasing drag, for instance.
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Source: theguardian.com