Mountain Gazelle (Gazella gazelle) in the Ramat Hanadiv Nature Park, Israel.
By Amir Arnon.

By Yuval Zukerman, Amir Arnon, Uri Roll, and Oded Berger-Tal.

This Plain Language summary is published in advance of the paper discussed; check back soon for a link to the full paper.

People enjoy spending time in nature and encountering wild animals often stands out as a thrilling experience. However, this experience may not be as enjoyable from the perspective of the animals themselves. Numerous studies have revealed the negative impacts of human presence on wildlife in natural habitats, including protected areas. Effective management of these protected areas is crucial to reduce these negative effects on wildlife while still providing visitors with fulfilling experiences. To achieve this balance, it is essential to understand how visitors influence local species and what are the consequences for the entire ecosystem. In our study, we focused on the impact of visitors on an endangered prey species, the mountain gazelle (Gazelle gazelle), and its predator, the golden jackal (Canis aureus), as well as their interactions, in Ramat Hanadiv Nature Park, a small protected area in Israel. We placed 109 camera traps in gazelles’ activity centres over five years. We then analyzed the activity patterns of both species and assessed how these patterns were influenced by visitor presence. We found that the gazelles, which are typically active during the day, were more active during nighttime in areas frequented by visitors, such as near hiking and bicycle trails and the visitor center. This shift in activity time led to a greater overlap in the activity hours between gazelles and their predator, the jackal, potentially increasing the risk of gazelles being preyed upon. Remarkably, we found that visitor presence had much more impact on gazelle activity than environmental factors (such as vegetation or precipitation), the study year, or predator activity. Our study shows direct and indirect effects of visitors on a predator-prey system and highlight the importance of understanding these impacts to manage protected areas and support human-wildlife coexistence.