Elucidating the Effects of Artificial Lighting on African Mammal Behavior

Ecosystems and wildlife populations around the globe are being affected by anthropogenic influences. Wildlife-based tourism has been widely debated in the ecology field, as it provides economic and educational values, but can significantly alter wildlife habitat and behavior. One area that needs more focus is the effects of artificial lighting on African mammal behavior. Our research provides greater insight into human effects on mammalian species by examining the differences in behavior at artificially lit and unlit waterholes on the Ongava Game Reserve in Namibia. We observed and documented mammalian behaviors (i.e., movement, drinking, and vigilance) for 12 species using security camera footage from four waterholes, two lit and two unlit. We compared the number of behaviors between waterhole type, the number of behaviors with each other, and the number of behaviors between waterhole types for each species using separate generalized linear mixed models with a Poisson distribution. Between waterhole types, the number of vigilance behaviors and times that animals moved around the waterholes were different. Further, we found 10 pairs of behaviors that were significantly different from each other between waterhole types. Lastly, five species, black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus petersi)​​, giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis), greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), oryx (Oryx gazella) and steenbok (Raphicerus campestris), had a significantly different number of behaviors between waterhole type.  These results shed new light on the widely unexplored impacts of ecotourism in Africa.