The study found that some of Asia's largest animals, including tigers and elephants, are thriving with humans.
Researchers compared the distribution of Asia's 14 largest species with their populations in tropical forests.
The four species that show increased populations in areas with human infrastructure are tigers, Asian elephants, wild pigs and clouded leopards.
The results show that some large animals can live near humans.
The results challenge the idea that humans and megafauna are incompatible.
The disproportionate loss of the world's largest animals is referred to as trophic downgrading.
Trophic downgrading is the worst near humans. The populations of tigers, elephants, wild boars, and clouded leopards are higher nearby humans.
This may be the result of tougher anti-poaching efforts in the national parks that are closer to human settlements and are more visited by tourists.
Clouded leopard numbers in particular experienced a decline in those areas as a result of the study's findings.
The research showed that large animal species could live in relatively small habitats if they were not hunted.
There are a few examples of large Asian species thriving in small habitats near humans, such as in Mumbai, India where leopards prey on stray dogs.
We found that a wide range of animals can live with humans.
Two large animal species are thriving again at one of their study sites in Singapore, where there are a lot of restoration efforts going on.
The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve has seen the natural re-wilding of sambar deer and wild boars.
We could see positive impacts around the world if we replicated those protection efforts in larger forests.
Humans need to get their act together before this happens.
The study found some positive results, but it also found declines in tapirs, Sumatran rhinoceros, sun bears, guar and other big animals.
The key innovation of this work was to investigate the population trends of different wildlife species.
We tested if the parks had the same species. We found that no two forests have the same group of animals.
The opportunity to shape the future of nature was offered by the research.
He said that the results give hope for wildlife in forests that were previously thought to be too far away from cities. We're looking at new ways to conserve these places.
More information: Zachary Amir, Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2307. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq2307 Journal information: Science Advances
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