Goitered Gazelle Gazella subgutturosa Responded to Human Disturbance by Increasing Vigilance Rather than Changing the Group Size

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Wild animals perceive nonlethal human activities as a potential threat, and they respond to human disturbances in a variety of ways: changes in group size and time-investment on vigilance are common behaviors. In China, nature reserves are generally divided into three functional zones: the core zone, the buffer zone, and the experimental zone, which represent low, medium, and high human disturbance levels, respectively. However, mining developments in the three zones pose threats to goitered gazelle living in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve, China. In this study, we found that human disturbances have larger effects on smaller-sized, single-sex groups rather than larger-sized, mixed-sex groups. Goitered gazelle spend more time being vigilant in the experimental zone than in the other two zones. In the experimental zone, a greater linear decrease with respect to group size was observed. Our results indicate that intensive human disturbances in the core and buffer zones brought goitered gazelle and humans closer together, which induced changes in vigilance and grouping patterns of this social species. Ultimately, this may have negative effects on the fitness and survival of the species. ABSTRACT: Nonlethal human disturbances have been confirmed to have a negative effect on wildlife in a variety of ways, including on behaviors. In many studies, the impact of human disturbances on gregarious species of wildlife is assessed through changes in their social organization and vigilance. In our study in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve, China, we wanted to estimate the impacts of differing levels of human disturbances on two different group types (mixed-sex and all-male) of goitered gazelle, Gazella subgutturosa, living in three functional zones (experimental, buffer, and core zones), which represent high, medium, and low human disturbance levels, respectively. In addition, we studied the time spent vigilant as a function of group size with different levels of human disturbances in the three zones. In general, mixed-sex gazelle groups were of similar sizes in the three different zones, while all-male groups slightly differed in their sizes between the experimental and buffer zones. This may indicate that human disturbances have varying effects on the different group types, with smaller-sized, single-sex groups being more significantly affected by human disturbances than larger-sized, mixed-sex groups. Goitered gazelle showed higher vigilance levels in the experimental zone than in the two other zones. A trend of decreasing vigilance varying linearly with group size was also found in the three zones, and the rate of decrease was higher in the experimental zone. Increased habitat fragmentation and human activities brought goitered gazelle and humans closer together in the core zone. Therefore, stopping mining activities and returning the reserve to a continuous habitat with fewer environmental disturbances is the best way to establish and protect a stable population of this endangered species of gazelle.