Conservation behavior takes the study of animal behavior (which is a very broad area of study, encompassing everything from socializing and feeding to disease processes and evolution) and applies it to wildlife conservation. At its core, conservation behavior allows us to learn from animals what they need to survive at the individual, population, and species levels.
As you know, we are in a period of unprecedented climate change. Yes, the climate has changed before, but never this rapidly, and never at the hands of humans. Many of us feel that humans have a responsibility to combat climate change and try to save the earth and the animals with whom we share it. This effort is being undertaken by countless scientists from dozens of different disciplines, each contributing to the greater pool of knowledge and informing potential solutions. Some of us are lucky enough to have chosen animal behavior.
I have a master’s degree in Animal Behavior and Conservation from Hunter College, where I did my master’s thesis on training weakly electric fish.
Yes, fish that are electric, but just weakly. In other words, they won’t zap you, but they do this really cool thing where they use self-generated electricity to sense their surroundings and communicate with each other. Fascinating!
My thesis work did not directly contribute to wildlife conservation, but it set the stage for my understanding of scientific research. After grad school, I spent five years working in marine animal stranding and rescue in Florida. I worked directly with dolphins, whales, manatees, and sea turtles; many of these species are threatened or endangered and face numerous conservation challenges.
Here are some examples of how understanding these animals’ behavior influences conservation measures:
In 2020, manatees on the east coast of Florida began dying in unprecedented numbers. Many of them were found to have starved to death, and some had inappropriate food, such as acorns, in their stomachs. The change in their feeding behavior pointed to a disastrous loss of seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon, and it told us that the manatees were not capable of adapting to such a rapid and dramatic change. Conservation efforts to address this included a feeding station where manatees were provisioned with food like lettuce, as well as addressing the bigger problem of water conditions that led to the seagrass die-off.
Sea turtle hatchlings use the light of the moon to guide them out to oceans once they emerge from their nests. Understanding this critical aspect of their behavior has saved countless members of these endangered species by way of reducing artificial light sources
(street lamps, hotel lighting, etc.) near the beach during nesting season.
These are just two examples of how animal behavior plays a vital role in conservation. Each year, hundreds of studies involving conservation behavior are conducted by scientists around the world. Like with many other scientific fields, results of these studies are published in academic journals and presented at conferences, and news outlets often highlight specific findings for the general public.
While there are plenty of animal behaviorists who don’t focus on conservation, I personally feel pulled to help the earth in every way possible, and I think those of us in conservation behavior hit the jackpot when we found a field that lets us spend our time observing animals while making meaningful contributions to their survival. Conservation behaviorists are a tenacious group of scientists who refuse to give up in the face of climate change and other conservation challenges. It is really exciting to be in a room with other scientists who are all working to make life better for various species of animals and have perpetual hope that we can make meaningful change. We are just one piece of the puzzle, but how lucky are we to get to be that piece? We are also so lucky to have you here. Yes, you! Just by reading this blog, you are supporting our work and learning valuable information that will no doubt come up at a party, meeting, or family gathering in your future. You’ll tell your Aunt Sue, or Steve from Legal, or a friend of a friend, about how sea turtles need darkness so they can follow the moon to the ocean, or how there are thousands of scientists learning how to save the world by studying animals. Maybe you have children who love animals, and you can talk to them about how we are learning what animals need so we can help them. Whatever you do with the information you’ve learned here, it makes a difference, and for that, I thank you.
Please share in the comments any questions you have or ways in which you think you might make use of what you’ve learned here today!
--Amber Lea Kincaid, Executive Director
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