On the interface between cultural transmission, phenotypic diversity, demography and the conservation of migratory ungulates

Animal culture: conservation in a changing world

Social learning and animal culture can influence conservation outcomes in significant ways. Culture is a dynamic phenomenon; socially learned behaviours can be transmitted within and/or between generations and among populations, which can facilitate resilience, or in other circumstances generate vulnerability. Culture can be a driver of evolutionary diversification, population structure and demography, shaping sociality and influencing underlying biological processes such as reproduction and survival, affecting fitness. This theme issue synthesizes the current state of knowledge on cultural variation within major vertebrate taxa, offering practical insights on how social learning can interface directly with conservation interventions. It ranges over topics that include translocations, human-wildlife interactions and adaptation to anthropogenic change. Culture is complex; integrating cultural processes into conservation is challenging. No one-size-fits-all policy can be recommended. Instead, we aim to balance current understanding of underlying processes with a diversity of practical implementations in this nascent field, exploring and supporting developing pathways towards conservation efficiencies. Key themes that emerge include conserving cultural capacity, benefits of data sharing, along with the intrinsic value of animal cultures and the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.This article is part of the theme issue 'Animal culture: conservation in a changing world'.

The flexibility of social learning and its conservation implications in mammals and beyond

Conservation strategies seek to ensure that populations persist and are resilient to environmental change. As learning from others can shape the development of skills that help animals survive, reproduce and respond to changing conditions, understanding social learning can be of crucial conservation importance. Research on mammals, with their great diversity of niches and social systems, provides vital evidence that social learning helps animals to communicate, secure mates, avoid predators, forage effectively and navigate through their ecological and social environments. However, these environments are being rapidly altered in the Anthropocene, influencing individuals' reliance on social learning, the value of learned information, its spread through groups and the stability of socially learned traditions. Here, we review and synthesize this growing body of literature to highlight how understanding the ways in which animals use social learning and deploy it flexibly throughout their lives may enhance conservation programmes. We consider both the potential negative consequences of social learning and the scope for social-learning-driven interventions to generate adaptive responses to the challenges of rapidly changing environments. A greater appreciation and integration of social learning and its flexibility will ultimately promote the effective conservation of mammals and other taxa in our fast-changing world.This article is part of the theme issue 'Animal culture: conservation in a changing world'.

Strategies for integrating animal social learning and culture into conservation translocation practice

Conservation translocations are increasingly used in species' recovery. Their success often depends upon maintaining or restoring survival-relevant behaviour, which is socially learned in many animals. A lack of species- or population-appropriate learning can lead to the loss of adaptive behaviour, increasing the likelihood of negative human interactions and compromising animals' ability to migrate, exploit resources, avoid predators, integrate into wild populations, reproduce and survive. When applied well, behavioural tools can address deficiencies in socially learned behaviours and boost survival. However, their use has been uneven between species and translocation programmes, and behaviour commonly contributes to translocation failure. Critically, current international guidance (e.g. the International Union for Conservation of Nature's translocation guidelines) does not directly discuss social learning or its facilitation. We argue that linking knowledge about social learning to appropriate translocation strategies will enhance guidance and direct future research. We offer a framework for incorporating animal social learning into translocation planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation across wild and captive settings. Our recommendations consider barriers practitioners face in contending with logistics, time constraints and intervention cost. We emphasize that stronger links between researchers, translocation practitioners and wildlife agencies would increase support for social learning research, and improve the perceived relevance and feasibility of facilitating social learning.This article is part of the theme issue 'Animal culture: conservation in a changing world'.