Nearly half of the world s migratory species are in decline, UN report warns koka.am - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from koka.am Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
At the peak of the whaling industry, in the late 1800s, North Atlantic right whales were slaughtered in their thousands. With each carcass hauled on to the deck, whalers were taking more than just bones and flesh out of the ocean. The slaughtered whales had unique memories of feeding grounds, hunting techniques and communication styles; knowledge acquired over centuries, passed down through the generations and shared between peers. The critically endangered whale clings on, but much of the species’ cultural knowledge is now extinct.
Whales are among the many animals known to be highly cultural, says Hal Whitehead, a marine biologist
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Why animal culture matters for conservation: a roadmap
An international group of researchers working on a wide range of species, from elephants and crows to whales and chimpanzees, argues that the cultural knowledge of some animals needs to be taken into consideration for their conservation.
The group highlighted the policy implications of animal culture in a 2019 Science paper and now provide an in-depth analysis with a roadmap for integrating animal culture into conservation, in a review, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. They argue that viewing behavioural variation through the lens of animal culture can provide new insights for conservation management.