Another's treasure: how mammals perceive human food resources along the urbanization gradient

Human activities expansion in magnitude, number, and extent and pose new challenges to animal populations. Together with an increased perception of risks, human activities can also affect the availability and distribution of food sources. For instance, human wastes in urban or suburban areas represent easily accessible food resources for several animal species. We experimentally placed a simulated rubbish bin in a number of locations with a highly variable urban development, using camera traps to observe the behavioral responses of five medium and large mammal species. We aimed to investigate the average attractiveness of rubbish within different mammal species and how it is influenced by the urbanization gradient.