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标题：Response Behaviors of Svalbard Reindeer TOwards Humans and Humans Disguised as Polar Bears on Edgeøya
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作者：Eigil Reimers ; Sindre Eftestøl
期刊名称：Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
印刷版ISSN：1523-0430
电子版ISSN：1938-4246
出版年度：2012
卷号：44
期号：4
页码：483-489
DOI：10.1657/1938-4246-44.4.483
摘要：Due to observed interactions between Svalbard reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus ) and polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) during field work on Edgeøya, Svalbard, we measured response distances for reindeer from a stalking polar bear and improvised five approaches from a person disguised as a polar bear for comparison with human encounters. The alert, flight initiation and escape distances were 1.6, 2.5 and 2.3 times longer, respectively, when Svalbard reindeer were encountered by a person disguised as a polar bear compared to a person in dark hiking gear. Population increase of polar bears on Svalbard and decrease in sea-ice cover in the Arctic region during summer probably results in more frequent interactions with reindeer on the archipelago. Similar reindeer response behavior from encounters with a polar bear and persons disguised as polar bears indicate a predator-prey relationship between the two species on Edgeøya.