Savanna animals coevolved with humans as they slowly became the worlds most dangerous predators. By the time the modern hunting toolkit developed African animals had defenses such as staying the hell away from human groups.
Those events occurred in the era of rifles and mechanical transportation. I doubt that they tell us very much about what much smaller populations equipped only with a paleolithic toolkit and legs for transportation did. BTW, the California Grizzly was a geographic population not a species. Both Grey Wolves and Brown Bears are still with us.
BTW, I'm not talking about animal knowledge, just behavior. Think through the evolutionary logic. There is a pretty obvious fitness advantage to not getting killed by the most efficient killers out there, but evolution can only run so fast.
The Wolves are a good example. They were given a very sharp rap on the nose for several generations by farmers with carbines. Put legal restrictions on wolf hunting and they come right back. And wolves are pretty bright compared to most herbivores.
I live in the same neighborhood now that I grew up in. 60 years ago the only way to see a deer was to drive 25 miles to the zoo. Now I have the damned rats on stilts eating my hostas.
Savanna animals coevolved with humans as they slowly became the worlds most dangerous predators. By the time the modern hunting toolkit developed African animals had defenses such as staying the hell away from human groups.
Maybe. Elephants might be smart enough and social enough to maintain that kind of knowledge. But, is there any evidence for this thesis.
We've sort of seen it happen in historical time with grey wolves and California Grizzlies for example.
Those events occurred in the era of rifles and mechanical transportation. I doubt that they tell us very much about what much smaller populations equipped only with a paleolithic toolkit and legs for transportation did. BTW, the California Grizzly was a geographic population not a species. Both Grey Wolves and Brown Bears are still with us.
BTW, I'm not talking about animal knowledge, just behavior. Think through the evolutionary logic. There is a pretty obvious fitness advantage to not getting killed by the most efficient killers out there, but evolution can only run so fast.
The Wolves are a good example. They were given a very sharp rap on the nose for several generations by farmers with carbines. Put legal restrictions on wolf hunting and they come right back. And wolves are pretty bright compared to most herbivores.
I live in the same neighborhood now that I grew up in. 60 years ago the only way to see a deer was to drive 25 miles to the zoo. Now I have the damned rats on stilts eating my hostas.